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

Blatnik, 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 Blatnik surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Blatnik in America

Blatnik is the 41728th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Blatnik surname appeared 521 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 Blatnik.

We can also compare 2010 data for Blatnik 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 Blatnik

The surname Blatnik is of Slovene origin, deriving from the Slavic word 'blatnik' which means 'mudguard' or 'fender'. It is thought to have originated as an occupational surname for someone who made or repaired mudguards, likely for carriages or wagons. The name first emerged in the 14th century in the region of present-day Slovenia, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Blatnik can be found in a 1389 census record from the town of Novo Mesto, where a blacksmith named Jakob Blatnik was listed as a resident. The name also appears in several 15th-century land ownership records from the region around Ljubljana, suggesting that the Blatnik family had established itself as landowners during this period.

In the late 16th century, a notable figure named Jurij Blatnik was a prominent Protestant reformer and writer who played a significant role in the translation of religious texts into the Slovene language. He was born in 1562 in the village of Blatnik, which may have been named after an early bearer of the surname.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Blatnik name spread beyond Slovenia as members of the family migrated to other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and beyond. In 1812, a man named Anton Blatnik was recorded as a landowner in the Hungarian town of Kőszeg, while in 1865, a Johann Blatnik was listed as a resident of the German city of Leipzig.

One of the most famous bearers of the Blatnik surname was the Slovene-American automotive engineer Viktor Blatnik, who was born in 1909 in Ljubljana. He is credited with designing the iconic fenders for the Ford Thunderbird and is considered a pioneer in automotive design. Another notable figure was the Slovene politician and diplomat Fedor Blatnik, who served as the first ambassador of Slovenia to the United States after the country gained independence in 1991.

Other individuals with the Blatnik surname who have left their mark throughout history include the Slovene writer and philosopher Janez Blatnik (1921-1990), the Croatian painter Mihovil Blatnik (1869-1956), and the Polish mathematician Jan Blatnik (1836-1915).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Blatnik

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

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 Blatnik 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 Blatnik 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 Blatnik was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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