Find out how popular the last name Balka is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Balka.

Balka, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Balka surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Balka in America

Balka is the 73666th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Balka surname appeared 263 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Balka.

We can also compare 2010 data for Balka to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Balka

The surname Balka has its origins in Poland, with the earliest records dating back to the 16th century. The name is derived from the Polish word "balka," which means "beam" or "log." This suggests that the name may have originated as a occupational surname for someone who worked with wood, such as a carpenter or a lumberjack.

One of the earliest known references to the name Balka can be found in the Metryka Koronna, a historical record of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which mentions a certain Jan Balka in the year 1568. Another early reference comes from the Akta Grodzkie, a collection of court records from the same period, where a Marcin Balka is listed in 1587.

The name Balka has also been associated with various place names in Poland, such as the village of Balków in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, or the town of Bałki in the Lublin Voivodeship. These place names likely derived from the same root word as the surname, further suggesting the name's connection to woodworking or forestry.

Notable individuals with the surname Balka include Mieczysław Balka (1915-1981), a Polish writer and journalist, and Mirosław Balka (born 1958), a renowned Polish sculptor and installation artist. Other historical figures bearing this name include Jan Balka (1824-1892), a Polish painter and art teacher, and Józef Balka (1862-1928), a Polish architect and engineer.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Balka outside of Poland can be found in the United States, where a certain Andrzej Balka is listed in the 1860 census records for New York City. This suggests that the name may have been brought to America by Polish immigrants in the 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Balka

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Balka.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Balka was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Balka has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Balka was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Balka, please contact us.

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