I am pleased to announce the launch of the Danko Surname Study.
The Danko Surname Study is designed to study the relationships among those with the surname Danko and its variants.
The study is comprised of two projects:
The Danko Genealogy Project: a one-name study to document the genealogy of those with Danko ancestors; and
The Danko DNA Project: a Y-DNA study to analyze the genetic relationships of men with the Danko surname.
According to Kazimierz Rymut (Rymut, Kazimierz. 2003. Dictionary of surnames in current use in Poland at the beginning of the 21st century. Chicago, IL: Polish Genealogical Society of America.), in Poland at the beginning of the 21st century, the distribution of the Dańko surname and its variants included:
- Danco – 1
- Danko – 75
- Dańka – 16
- Dańko – 998
The surname distribution in Poland is shown on the following maps:
Distribution of the Danko Surname in Poland
SOURCE: Mojkrewni, “Mapa nazwisk”, database, Mojkrewni.pl (http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/danko.html : accessed 05 Jul 2008), user-defined report for “Danko”.
The Danko surname is most frequently found in the following locations in Poland:
- Warszawa – 14
- Sulęcin – 11
- Słubice – 7
- Sucha Beskidzka – 7
- City of Kraków – 5
- City of Wałbrzych – 5
- Jelenia Góra – 5
- Żywiec – 4
- Strzelce Opolskie – 4
- City of Bielsko-Biała – 4
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Distribution of the Dańko Surname in Poland
SOURCE: Mojkrewni, “Mapa nazwisk”, database, Mojkrewni.pl (http://www.moikrewni.pl/mapa/kompletny/da%25C5%2584ko.html : accessed 05 Jul 2008), user-defined report for “Dańko”.
The Dańko surname is most frequently found in the following locations in Poland:
- Przemyśl – 115
- Sucha Beskidzka – 36
- Brzozów – 36
- City of Białystok – 35
- City of Przemyśl – 33
- Świdnik – 31
- Sokółka – 28
- City of Lublin – 27
- Białystok – 26
- City of Kraków – 26
My own Dańko ancestors were from Przemyśl, the area of Poland with the largest number of individuals with the Dańko surname . Przemyśl is the red are in the lower right corner of the map, above .
In addition to Poland, the Danko surname occurs in significant numbers in Hungary. A total of 1300 individuals in Hungary bear the Danko surname or a related surname. Together, the following surnames represent the 185th most common in Hungary:
- Danka
- Danko
- Dankó
- Donka
- Donko
- Donkó
The surname also occurs frequently in countries bordering Poland and Hungary:
- Czech Republic
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Ukraine
The US Federal Census shows that, in 1930, individuals with the Danko surname resided in:
- California
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New Jersey
- New York
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
The US Federal Census for the year 2000 shows that 3422 individuals with the Danko surname were residing in the United States.
To participate in the Danko Genealogy Project, please contact me by email at stephen@stephendanko.com . To participate in the Danko DNA Project, please go to the Danko DNA Project webpage or contact me directly by email at stephen@stephendanko.com . Those who participate in the Danko DNA Project are entitled to discounted rates for DNA tests at Family Tree DNA.
Copyright © 2008 by Stephen J. Danko
I came across your web site by accident, but then again… I never really believed in coincidences. My name is Wendy Danko and I am the granddaughter of Eugeniusz DaÅ„ko, who was born in Piaski (Poland), a town near Swidnik, 1922. He did on August 11 2006. One of his last wishes was to find his brothers, but he was too old and too ill to do this himself. He left me a letter from his mother , with the address of his brother Kazimierz DaÅ„ko, who was a Polish soldier in the UK during WWII. The letter was written at the end of the ’40s. My grandfather had at least one more brother, and one sister. His sister is the only one who stayed in Poland during and after WWII, and my father found her in 1986 in Swidnik. She too had lost contact with her relatives. My grandfather’s father was named Joseph, and I know my parents have a copy of by grandfather’s birth certificate with more details. I would love to find out whether you came across any of my relatives. We might even be related ourselves…In any case I’m more than willing to share the story of my family history with you and contribute to your research. Hope to hear from you soon…
Wendy Danko (Belgium)
Hello Stephen, very interesting post, I am typing this in response to your first comment by Wendy. Hello Wendy, I believe we might be related, my grandfather was Kazimierz Danko, whom was in WWII in the UK. He had a brother called Eugeniusz Danko, that’s where I get my middle name from. I would most certainly like to get in contact with you, please contact me at the following email address, m.e.danko@gmail.com, Thanks, Martin. (London, England)
Wendy – My son has just told me of your email, I am the son of Kazimierz Jan Danko,my father often spoke of your Grandfather, his youngest brother and Maria, his sister, in Poland. Please contact me so that we may exchange information and hopefully meet I am living in South East London.regards Martin Danko
hello there. I am responding to the above comments on behalf of my dad. My dads name is Peter Danko and we were interested in finding out from wendy the contents of her letter from Eugeniusz Danko and if there was any relevants to Kazimierz(e)? Danko. thank you for you response
Dear all,
it was a pleasant surprise to read these comments. Martin I have just sent a message through E-mail.
Julia, yes there is a link. The letter was from Eugeniusz’ mother about Kazimierz, her other son. She was woried because she seemed to have lost contact with him and provided the last known address she had. Send me an E-mail and we can share information: wendy.danko@skynet.be
My great grandmother was Mary Danko. She Was from Geraltov Slovakia. Think it’s only about 30 miles to the Polish border from there
Hi Steven. My father was Frank Danko of Lauder Manitoba. My cousin was the musician Rick Danko. We have many many male relatives living in Ontario, one in USA and my brother in B C. Our grandfather would not tell us about ‘the old country’ although he married a woman from Kiev grandfather claimed to be Polish. His musical ability continues today among many of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. Our grandparents came to Canada at the early 1900’s obviously to escape Communism.
Grandfather called himself Joseph but we have no idea where he came from in Europe. He spoke several languages including Hungarian polish Ukrainian English
Any help would be appreciated.