Strunk is a German surname, originating from the Middle High German word strunc and the Middle Low German word strunk/stronk meaning "stump", "stem of a cabbage plant", and "stalk", which was used as a nickname for "a short, stout, ungainly person"; it was also used as "a topographic name for someone who lived in an area with tree trunks" or a vegetable field.[1][2] There are 2105 people with this surname in Germany, mostly in the west of the country.[2] As of 2010, there were 8129 people in the United States with this surname.[1] A spelling variant of the surname is Strunck, with 337 bearers in Germany.[3]