Pankey
A surname probably connected to an old continental place-name or to related forms like Panks and Hanke, though the exact origin is uncertain.
The #7,216 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,741 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Pankey is probably a development of an older name such as Panks, Pankinson, or Hanke rather than a straightforward modern English word. One historical note links Wilts. Pankey to Anche in Poitou, suggesting a continental place-name source, but the evidence is brief and not fully settled. Because the form appears in several related spellings, its exact root is best treated as uncertain.
History
The name is recorded in England in forms that suggest long-standing local adaptation and spelling variation. By the modern period, Pankey had become a relatively uncommon surname in the United States. Its scattered distribution is consistent with an origin in one or more small surname lines rather than a single large family branch.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The historical note explicitly connects one Wiltshire form of the name with a place in Poitou, showing how surnames could travel and change shape across borders.
From the historical record
“Wilts Pankey. From Anche, in Poitou. Or see Hanks T. de Hanchet, Camb. 1316 Pankinson. See Hanks Panks. F. Anke ; Dch. Hanke ;”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)