Pankey is an Americanized form of French Panetier: occupational name for a pantryman from ''panetier''an agent derivative of ''pain'' ‘bread’. Alteration of the French ending ''-tier'' to English ''-key'' is typical for American French surnames. The American version originated with two French brothers who emigrated to Virginia in 1700, Jean and Etienne Panetier.
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It is also a North American last name and the Anglicized
Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
form of the German-language surname Pahnke,Lower Sorbian
Lower may refer to:
* ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker
*Lower (surname)
*Lower Township, New Jersey
*Lower Receiver (firearms)
*Lower Wick
Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...
/Upper Sorbian
Upper Sorbian (), occasionally referred to as Wendish (), is a minority language spoken by Sorbs in the historical province of Upper Lusatia, today part of Saxony, Germany. It is a West Slavic language, along with Lower Sorbian, Czech, Poli ...
/Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
word '' pan'' for "man", "master" or "mister" (and can thus roughly be translated as "little gentleman", “young noble” or "junker
Junker (, , , , , , ka, იუნკერი, ) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German , meaning 'young nobleman'Duden; Meaning of Junker, in German/ref> or otherwise 'young lord' (derivation of and ). The term is traditionally ...
").[Rosa und Volker Kohlheim, ''Duden Familiennamen: Herkunft und Bedeutung von 20.000 Nachnamen, 495''][Horst Naumann, ''Das große Buch der Familiennamen'', 209][Hans Bahlow, ''Deutsches Namenlexikon: Familien- und Vornamen nach Ursprung und Sinn erklärt'', 372]
Notable people with the surname include:
* Ashton Pankey (born 1992), American basketball player
* Aubrey Pankey
Aubrey W. Pankey (June 17, 1905May 8, 1971)Aubrey Pankey in ''Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965'' was an American-born baritone and noted Lieder singer in 1930s Germany. In 1956 he permanently emigrated to East Germany under th ...
(1905–1971), African American baritone
* Eric Pankey
Eric Pankey (born 1959 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American poet and artist. He is married to the poet Jennifer Atkinson (born 1955).
Pankey's poetry has moved from the literal and narrative as in _Heartwood,_ towards the suggestiveness of ...
(born 1959), American poet and artist
* George Edward Pankey (1903-?) American historian and genealogist, writer of a comprehensive listing of descendants of John Panetier, who emigrated to North America in 1700.
* Irv Pankey (born 1958), former American football offensive lineman
* Peter Pankey, aka "Peter Gunz" (born 1969), American rapper, reality star & TV show host
* Susan Pedersen Pankey (born 1953), American swimmer
* Titus Pankey Jr. (1925–2003), African American physicist
References
{{surname, Pankey
English-language surnames
Surnames from nicknames