Surname Löcke - Meaning and Origin
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Unearthing Roots: The Surprises and Revelations of my iGENEA DNA Test
An iGENEA DNA test opened the door to a new understanding of my personal identity and heritage. As I delved into this intimate genetic odyssey, I found myself reconsidering what the surname Löcke means to me and my family legacy.
N. Löcke
read moreLöcke: What does the surname Löcke mean?
The last name Löcke is of German origin. The surname comes from the German word “Loch” which translates to ‘hole’ in English. It is believed that during the medieval period, some people in Germany adopted this surname to signify that they worked in occupations such as carpentry or stone masonry that required skills in shaping and cutting holes in logs or stones.
The earliest records of the surname Löcke date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, when it was found in records of people in the regions of old Saxony and Westphalia. It is also found in records from the late 14th century in Pomerania and Silesia, where it may have been derived from the name Lochau, which is a German town in the region of Pomerania.
Today, people with the surname Löcke can still be found in Germany and other parts of Europe, such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Poland. In the world of sports, Jens Löcke from Germany is a former professional basketball player who represented his country in the 1990 FIBA World Championship in Argentina.
This surname may be of interest to genealogists, who can trace their ancestry to the medieval roots of this name. It can also be a useful source of information for those trying to understand more about the occupations and movements of Europeans in the past.
Order DNA origin analysisLöcke: Where does the name Löcke come from?
The last name Löcke is most commonly found in Germany, particularly in Northern Germany. The name is derived from the Middle Low German word "lucken," which means "to curve" or "to make hollow." Its earliest known usage is documented in 1257, when a Ludolfus Lucke was recorded in association with a property in Recklinghausen, Germany.
Today, Löcke is the nineteenth most common family name in Germany, with approximately 47,000 people carrying the surname. There are also numerous people bearing the name in Denmark, Hungary, Estonia, and the Netherlands. On a global scale, the majority of Löckes live within German-speaking countries.
Within the modern-day German states, the highest concentration of people with the surname Löcke is in Lower Saxony. In fact, the region accounts for over 20,000 of the 47,000 Löckes currently living in Germany. This is followed by North Rhine-Westphalia, with 13,000 residents carrying the name, then Bavaria with 6,500, and Saxony-Anhalt with 2,000. Outside Germany, notable populations of people with the surname exist in Canada, the United States, and Brazil.
An alternate waxing of the surname is Locke, with most of those individuals originating from the British Isles or Northern Europe.
Variations of the surname Löcke
The surname Löcke is of German origin and has variants, spellings, and other surnames of the same origin.
Löcke is sometimes spelled like Locke, Loeck or Loecke. It is very closely related to surnames such as Lock, Luck and Lick, which have originated from the same source. The Löcke surname may also have come from different regions of German-speaking countries such as the Black Forest region, Southern Germany, Bavaria, and some parts of Austria.
Other related surnames include Lokke, Loechel, Loke, Luick, Lukey, Lucka, Lockeman, Lochen, and Luchten. Variants of the surname could include variations of the spelling, such as Loock or Loeckel.
The origin of the surname Löcke is likely rooted in a locational name, as it means “dweller by a lock” or "someone living near a lock or dam”in German. This is consistent with names such as Locke and Lock, which also have similar origins.
The surname Löcke has many associated spellings and variants with it. It is also connected to many other related surnames that all have similar roots. Although the spelling of the surname may be slightly altered between spellings, the same origin remains.
Famous people with the name Löcke
- Lukas Löcke: German musician and producer based in Berlin.
- Konstantin Löcke: German conductor and musical director.
- Sebastian Löcke: Dutch racing driver and three-time Formula 3 champion.
- Carsten Löcke: Danish rower and Olympic silver medalist.
- Alexander Löcke: Austrian actor, screenwriter, and film producer.
- Katja Löcke: German-Canadian sound designer and producer.
- Marianne Löcke: Danish artist and illustrator.
- Rolf Löcke: German figure skater and two-time Olympian.
- Marian Löcke: Swiss pianist and classical music composer.
- Rebecca Löcke: German treble singer and choral conductor.
- Karen Löcke: Danish writer, translator, and literary critic.
- Schulyer Löcke: American folk and pop singer-songwriter.
- Gustav Löcke: German professional handball player.
- Henrik Löcke: Norwegian pianist and classical composer.
- Jorgen Löcke: Danish World Cup ski jumping competitor.
- Jorinde Löcke: German photographer and visual artist.
- Franz Löcke: Austrian-American Christian missionary and professor.
- Dieter Löcke: German bobsledder and multiple Olympic medalist.