Shank
Usually a nickname for someone with a notable leg or a crooked build, though in Scotland it could also be a topographic surname from a hill spur.
The #2,700 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 23,139 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English, Shank comes from Middle English and Old English words for the leg or shin, so it originally referred to someone with a noticeable leg, gait, or bodily peculiarity. The surname could also be applied more broadly to a person with a crooked or awkward build. In Scotland, a related word shank means the projecting point of a hill, so some families may have taken the name from a local feature rather than from a nickname.
History
The surname appears early in English records and was later noted especially in Yorkshire and other northern counties. Scottish bearers are also recorded, and one tradition links the name to Murdoch Schank, a historical figure associated with the recovery of King Alexander III’s body in 1286. Over time, the spelling stabilized as Shank, though related forms and compounds such as Shanks also occur.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes several related nickname forms built on the same word, such as Longshank, Shortshank, and Sheepshank.
From the historical record
“Cp. Shawn, Shone. SHANK "1 (Eng.) a nickname from some pecu- SHANKS J liarity of the Leg(s [M.E. schanke, 0.£. scancay a leg] Shanley 151”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)