Anke

Girls' name

Diminutive of Anna

Anke has been given to 5 babies in the U.S. since 1969. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1969, with 5 recorded.

Babies named Anke, 1969

1 in 695,000

Anke over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Anke: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Anna

Low German

What Anke means

Anke is a diminutive of Anna.

Origin, language, and formation

Anke is used in German and Low German. Its origins include Low German.

Anke comes through Low German Anke.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Anna.

Pronunciation and spelling

In German, Anke is pronounced /ˈaŋkə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5 girls were recorded with the name Anke between 1969 and 1969. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1969; its best national rank was #7,518 in 1969.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Anke?

Anke had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1969, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1969: 1 in 695,000; 5 of 3,475,126 births
Among girls only: 1 in 337,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 1969: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 481,756 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Anke sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1969 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 481,756 children born in 1969 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Anke. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ankes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Anke was born before 1969 — so the typical Anke is around 56 today.

Median birth year: 1969; About 56 years old
Biggest decade: 1960s; 100.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1960s — 100.0% of all recorded uses (5).

Is Anke rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1969 (5)
Years since peak: 56; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #7,518; 1969

Spellings of Anke

Anke is not the most common spelling — Anna is, with 30.6% against Anke's <0.01%.

Anna30.6%914,859
Ann15.8%470,261
Jane12.7%379,876
Annie12.1%360,253
Anne10.9%325,128
Ana3.7%111,359
Angel3.4%100,288
Janie2.5%75,598

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Anke around the world

Where Anke ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
2001–2001
#3,998
in 2001
France
1962–1974
#2,456
in 1974

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Anke by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #7,518; 1969
Peak year: 1969; 5 that year
First recorded: 1969
Last recorded: 1969
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Anke

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Anka Ronke Tiranke Ankitha Olufunke Aderonke Ankita

Sibling names for Anke

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Shannan Marnie Charla Richelle Nichelle Brigette Nicolle Janeen

For a brother

Jacques Judd Douglass Kraig Kelley Edwardo Shon Brant

Explore around Anke

Top names of 1969, Anke's peak year The 1960s in full Other names that peaked in 1969 Girls' names starting with A Anna & Hannah Variations & Nicknames Short German Girl Names