Crank Family History
Crank Name Meaning
English (chiefly Lancashire): from Middle English cranke ‘lively’, ‘lusty’, ‘vigorous’, hence a nickname for a cheerful, boisterous, or cocky person. English: nickname from cranuc, a diminutive of Middle English cran ‘crane’ (see Crane). Possibly an Americanized spelling of German Kranke, from Low German Kraneke ‘crane’, applied to someone thought to resemble the bird in some way, or a nickname for a poor physical specimen, from Middle High German kranc ‘sickly’, ‘ailing’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press