Show ContentsLenk History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Lenk family

The surname Lenk was first found in Worcestershire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 13th century when they held estates in that shire.

Early History of the Lenk family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lenk research. Another 139 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1043, 1154, 1352, 1455, 1486, 1487, 1510, 1566 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Lenk History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lenk Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Lenk family name include Lench, Lench, Lenk, Lenke, Lenky, Lenchy and others.

Early Notables of the Lenk family

More information is included under the topic Early Lenk Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lenk Ranking

In the United States, the name Lenk is the 16,858th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [1]


United States Lenk migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Lenk surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Lenk Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Georg Friedr Lenk, who arrived in Peru in 1845 [2]
  • Gg Friedr Wilh Lenk, who landed in Peru in 1845 [2]
  • Peter Lenk, aged 19, who landed in New York, NY in 1850 [2]
  • Karl Lenk, who arrived in New York, NY in 1853 [2]
  • Carl Lenk, who landed in Ohio in 1853 [2]
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Lenk Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Alexander Lenk, who settled in New York, NY in 1902

Contemporary Notables of the name Lenk (post 1700) +

  • Thomas Loren Lenk (b. 1976), American stage and television actor
  • Arthur Lenk (b. 1964), Israeli fourth Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan
  • Sieglinda Lenk Zigler (b. 1919), Brazilian Olympic back stroke swimmer at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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