Penk Family History
Penk Name Meaning
German: habitational name from any of various places so named in Bavaria. German: from a pet form of the personal name Benignus (see Benigno ). German: from an Old Prussian personal name. Sorbian (P'eńk): from a diminutive of Lower Sorbian p'eń ‘tree stump trunk’ (see Penn ) probably a nickname for a short stocky person or for a fool; compare 5 below. Germanized form of Sorbian Pjeńk: cognate of 1 above from Upper Sorbian pjeńk ‘tree stump trunk’ by extension also ‘blockhead fool’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022