Interesting Facts About the Quackenbush Surname

(Updated & Expanded Edition)

Family Coat of Arms

When you hear the name Quackenbush, you’re hearing the distant echo of marshlands and wild woods in the old Netherlands.

Long before the name appeared on mailboxes in New York, Michigan, Oregon, or anywhere else in North America, it belonged to a single family living near a Dutch woodland known as Quackenbosch — literally “the woods of the night heron.” The “kwak,” a bird known for its distinct call, lived in the “bosch,” the scrubby, untamed forestland of Holland.

And from that ancient landscape came a surname that would cross oceans, settle new continents, fracture into dozens of spellings, and ultimately become a distinctly American family line.

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From Quackenbosch to Quackenbush

Most surname researchers and genealogists agree:

1. The name originated in the Netherlands

“Quackenbosch” was originally a Dutch toponymic surname meaning:

• kwak → night heron

• bosch → woods or forest

• Quackenbosch → “the woods where the night heron calls”

Over time, as Dutch settlers arrived in North America during the 1600s, the name began to shift — first into Quackenbosch, then Quackenbos, and eventually into the now-dominant spelling Quackenbush.

2. The family’s North American story begins in the 1600s

The earliest widely accepted ancestor is Pieter (or Pieter van) Quackenbosch, who arrived in New Netherland (later New York) during the mid-17th century.

His descendants adopted English spellings, intermarried with other colonial families, and spread outward from the Hudson Valley into the Midwest and beyond.

3. A surname that multiplies by variation

Because colonial record-keeping was inconsistent, the name splintered into numerous variants:

Quackenbosch, Quackenbos, Quackinbush, Quackenboss, Quackanbush, Quackenboom, Quackenbol, Kwakkenbos, Kwackenbosch, Quackenboer, Quackenburgh, and more.

Each spelling reflects a moment in time — a clerk’s handwriting, a census taker’s guess, an immigrant’s adaptation, or a family’s personal choice.

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How Many People Have the Name?

Thanks to modern genealogy and surname statistics, we can now estimate the global footprint of the Quackenbush name.

A. U.S. Census Count (Most Reliable Official Number)

According to the 2010 U.S. Census:

• 4,164 people in the United States have the surname Quackenbush

• Making it the 7,947th most common surname in the U.S.

• Frequency: about 1.41 per 100,000 people

• Roughly 95–96% of bearers are recorded as White/European-descent

(Source: https://namecensus.com/last-names/quackenbush-surname-popularity/)

B. Global Estimate (Genealogical / DNA Research)

A larger, more inclusive international survey estimates:

• ≈ 22,000 people worldwide with the surname Quackenbush

• Up to 15,000 in the United States

• Additional clusters in Canada, Australia, and small numbers throughout Europe

(Source: https://www.igenea.com/en/surnames/q/quackenbush)

Why the difference?
Different projects count different things — census records, phone directories, genealogy submissions, or variant spellings. So the “real” number is somewhere within the full range.

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Where in the World Are the Quackenbushes Today?

United States

The surname is most concentrated in:

• New York (especially the Hudson Valley)

• Michigan

• Ohio

• Indiana

• Illinois & Wisconsin

• Iowa & Minnesota

• Oregon, Washington, and North Carolina

Earlier global data also suggested:

• About 5,402 Quackenbushes in the U.S.

• Roughly 21% in New York alone

• Followed by clusters in California, Florida, Indiana, and Oregon

(Source: https://forebears.io/surnames/quackenbush)

Canada

Notable concentrations appear in:

• Ontario

• Quebec

• Alberta

• British Columbia

Australia

Families with the surname appear most often in:

• Adelaide

• Melbourne

• Sydney

• Brisbane

Rest of the World

Outside North America and Australia, the name is rare — often only one to five people per country, including:

• United Kingdom

• Denmark

• Netherlands

• Spain

• France

• Russia

• South Korea

• Brazil

• Chile

• Turkey

• Cyprus

• Thailand

• Japan

• China

This confirms that Quackenbush is primarily an American surname of Dutch origin, with small diaspora pockets elsewhere.

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Political & Economic Notes

Fun quirks from demographic studies:

• U.S. families with the surname Quackenbush trend slightly more Republican than the national average.

• Median income for the surname is typically 5–6% above the national average.

• In Canada, some datasets suggest earnings are slightly below the national average.

These aren’t destiny — just statistical curiosities.

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Variant Surnames (and How Many of Them Exist)

Quackenbos

• ≈ 127 people worldwide

• Mostly in the U.S.

• Largest clusters in California, Georgia, Louisiana

Source: https://forebears.io/surnames/quackenbos

Quackenboss

• ≈ 150 people worldwide

• Nearly all in the U.S.

• Largest clusters in Wisconsin and New Jersey

Source: https://forebears.io/surnames/quackenboss

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A Name That Refuses to Disappear

From a marshy Dutch woodland in the 1600s to thousands of households across North America today, the name Quackenbush has traveled continents, survived wars, crossed oceans, and adapted to more than a dozen spellings.

Whether you meet a Quackenbush in:

• New York

• Ontario

• Florida

• Oregon

• Adelaide

• or a small town in the Midwest

…you are looking at the living continuation of a name that should have vanished centuries ago — but didn’t.

The night-heron woods live on in us.

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ADDENDUM — New Facts Added in This Updated Post

(with links to sources)

1. Etymology: kwak (night heron) + bosch (woods)
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quackenbush

2. Original Dutch form “Quackenbosch” no longer exists in the Netherlands
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quackenbush

3. U.S. Census 2010 count: 4,164 Quackenbushes
Source:
https://namecensus.com/last-names/quackenbush-surname-popularity/

4. Global genealogical estimate: ~22,000 worldwide
Source:
https://www.igenea.com/en/surnames/q/quackenbush

5. Largest U.S. clusters by region (Northeast & Midwest)
Source:
https://www.igenea.com/en/surnames/q/quackenbush

6. Canadian & Australian regional clusters
Source:
https://www.igenea.com/en/surnames/q/quackenbush

7. Expanded variant list (Quackenbos, Quackenboss, etc.)
Source:
https://www.igenea.com/en/surnames/q/quackenbush

8. Population count for Quackenbos (~127) and Quackenboss (~150)
Sources:
https://forebears.io/surnames/quackenbos
https://forebears.io/surnames/quackenboss