2010
#144,141
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Bakus
A surname of Lithuanian origin meaning "bear" or possibly derived from a place name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Bakus. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bakus 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
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Bakus in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bakus, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bakus
The surname BAKUS is believed to have originated in the region of modern-day Lithuania and Latvia during the medieval period. It is likely derived from the Old Prussian word "bakus," which meant "marsh" or "swamp." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a marshy area or worked as a trader or transporter navigating through these wetlands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name BAKUS can be found in the Prussian Chronicles, a historical text written in the 14th century. It mentions a landowner named Bakus von Memelburg, who held a estate near the town of Memel (now Klaipeda, Lithuania) in the late 13th century.
In the 16th century, a variant spelling of the name, "Backus," appeared in church records from the town of Raseiniai, Lithuania. This may indicate that the name had spread to other parts of the region by that time.
A notable bearer of the BAKUS name was Jonas Bakus, a Lithuanian merchant and philanthropist who lived in the late 17th century. He is credited with establishing a school and hospital in the city of Kaunas, which still bear his name today.
Another prominent figure was Petras Bakus, a Lithuanian military leader who fought against the Teutonic Knights in the 15th century. He is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time, including the Chronica Terrae Prussiae, for his role in defending the city of Vilnius.
In the 19th century, a family with the surname BAKUS emigrated from Lithuania to the United States, settling in the state of Pennsylvania. Among its members was Jonas Bakus (1832-1912), a farmer and community leader who helped establish a Lithuanian Catholic parish in the town of Shenandoah.
The BAKUS name has also been traced to the village of Bakussen (now Bakshtas) in western Lithuania, which may have been named after an early settler with this surname. This suggests that the name has deep roots in the region and may have originally referred to a specific location or geographic feature.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bakus
Among Census respondents with the surname Bakus, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Bakus 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 Bakus surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.6% · 101
- Two or more races4.4% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 3
- Black or African American1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bakus
Bakus 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
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 2,354 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 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Down 2,354 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 Bakus 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 | #146,495 | -1.6% |
| Count | 115 | 114 | -0.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bakus bearers went from 115 to 114 (-0.9% change). The surname moved down 2,354 positions in the national ranking, going from #144,141 to #146,495.
FAQ
Bakus surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bakus?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Bakus. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Bakus?
Bakus ranks #146,495 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 114 people with the surname Bakus. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), 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 Bakus.
Has Bakus become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bakus went from 115 recorded bearers to 114. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #144,141 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Bakus?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bakus, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Bakus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (101 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bakus appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.6%), Two or More Races (4.4%), Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Bakus (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 Bakus mean?
A surname of Lithuanian origin meaning "bear" or possibly derived from a place name. 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 Bakus (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 Americans have the surname Bakus?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.