2010
#144,141
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Abowitz
Jewish surname derived from the name of the town Abowice in Poland.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Abowitz. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Abowitz surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Abowitz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Abowitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Abowitz
The surname Abowitz has its origins in Eastern Europe, specifically in areas that are now parts of Poland and Belarus. It likely emerged in the late 16th or early 17th century as a patronymic name, derived from a personal name or nickname.
One possible source is the Slavic name "Aba," which could have been a shortened form of names like Abram or Abraham. The suffix "-witz" or "-vich" was commonly added to create a patronymic surname, indicating "son of." Thus, Abowitz might have initially meant "son of Aba."
Another theory traces the name to the Belarusian word "abavits," meaning "a type of cloth." In this case, the surname could have originated as an occupational name for a person involved in the cloth or textile trade.
While definitive historical records are scarce, the earliest known instances of the Abowitz surname can be found in Jewish communities in Eastern Europe during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. For example, Rabbi Meir Abowitz, a prominent Talmudic scholar, lived in Poland in the late 1600s.
In the 19th century, the name appears in various spellings, such as Abowicz or Abovitz, in census records and documents from cities like Warsaw and Vilnius. One notable individual was Isaac Abowitz (1823-1892), a successful businessman and philanthropist in Warsaw, who supported Jewish education and charitable causes.
As Jewish communities faced persecution and sought better opportunities, many Abowitz families immigrated to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Abraham Abowitz (1876-1942) was a prominent lawyer and community leader in New York City, while Samuel Abowitz (1901-1983) founded a successful furniture business in Toronto, Canada.
Other notable figures with the Abowitz surname include the American author and journalist Marlene Abowitz (born 1942), and the British scientist and inventor David Abowitz (1939-2022), known for his contributions to laser technology.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abowitz
Among Census respondents with the surname Abowitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Abowitz bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Abowitz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.4% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Abowitz
Abowitz appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-3 bearers (-2.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,813 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #144,141 | 115 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | -3 bearers (-2.6%) | Down 3,813 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Abowitz surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #144,141 | #147,954 | -2.6% |
| Count | 115 | 112 | -2.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Abowitz bearers went from 115 to 112 (-2.6% change). The surname moved down 3,813 positions in the national ranking, going from #144,141 to #147,954.
FAQ
Abowitz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Abowitz?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Abowitz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Abowitz?
Abowitz ranks #147,954 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 112 people with the surname Abowitz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Abowitz.
Has Abowitz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Abowitz went from 115 recorded bearers to 112. That is a decrease of 3 (-2.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #144,141 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Abowitz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Abowitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (1.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Abowitz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (108 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Abowitz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.4%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Abowitz (2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Abowitz mean?
Jewish surname derived from the name of the town Abowice in Poland. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Abowitz (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Abowitz?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.