Introduction

Pionke is a rare surname worldwide and has significant populations only in Poland, Germany, and the United States.

According to my genealogical research, all people with surname Pionke (name variants: Pionk, Piontke) come from a region in today’s northern Poland along the Baltic Sea coast that is called Pomerania. The region covers the area from Szczecin at the Odra River in the west up to Gdańsk (German: Danzig) at the Wisła River in the east. Moreover, if we go back in time to the 17th and 18th centuries, it seems that there are only three locations of origin, namely the small village of Będargowo (Bendargau) in Strzepcz parish, 30 miles west of Gdańsk in the countryside; the area around town Puck (Putzig), 35 miles north of Gdańsk on the Baltic Sea; and the villages Słupsk (Stolp) and Łupawa (Lupow),about 75 miles west of Gdańsk.

The overall region is well-known as Kashubia and the people living there are called Kashubs or Kashubians. The Kashubs are of Slavic origin and have been settled in the area since the Migration Period in the early Middle Ages (6th century). They speak Kashubian, which forms its own language, similar to Polish with some incorporated German words, but more than a local Polish dialect.

According to my research, the name Pionke is derived from the Kashubian word "Piątk" (Piontk) for the day of the week Friday. The name has undergone some changes due to Germanization (ending "e").

In the late 19th century, several Pionke families migrated to the United States and to Western Germany for economic reasons.