2010
#144,141
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Borkan
An aboriginal surname thought to be an Anglicized form of a Siouan name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 130 Americans carry the last name Borkan. That puts it at #147,221 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,636,572 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Borkan 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
130
1 in 2,636,572
Census rank
#147,221
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
113
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 113 bearers of the surname Borkan in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147221st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Borkan, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Borkan
The surname Borkan has its origins in the Germanic regions of central Europe, likely emerging in the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old High German word "bor," meaning "soil" or "earth," possibly indicating that the original bearers of this name were farmers or landowners. Alternatively, some sources suggest that Borkan may have stemmed from the Middle Low German word "bork," referring to a type of tree bark or a specific type of leather made from this bark.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Borkan surname can be found in the town records of Nuremberg, Germany, dating back to the late 15th century. A certain Hans Borkan was mentioned as a local merchant in these documents. Around the same time, the name also appeared in various parish registers and tax rolls across the German states of Bavaria and Saxony.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Johann Borkan (1495-1567) was a prominent Lutheran theologian and reformer who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in Germany. He was a close associate of Martin Luther and served as a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg.
As the Borkan surname spread across Europe, it was sometimes adapted to different spellings and variations, such as Borken, Borcken, and Borckmann. In the Netherlands, the name took on the form of Borkens, and there are records of a Dutch artist named Pieter Borkens (1609-1673) who was known for his landscape paintings.
Another significant figure bearing the Borkan name was Karl Borkan (1828-1897), a German-born American industrialist and inventor. He immigrated to the United States in the mid-19th century and established several successful manufacturing companies, including the Borkan Locomotive Works in New York.
In the 20th century, a notable bearer of the Borkan surname was the German-American writer and scholar Fritz Borkan (1910-1994). He was a professor of Germanic languages and literature at various universities in the United States and authored several books on German culture and literature.
While the Borkan surname is relatively uncommon, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and has been represented by individuals from various walks of life, including theologians, artists, industrialists, and scholars.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Borkan
Among Census respondents with the surname Borkan, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Borkan 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 Borkan surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.8% · 106
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 5
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Borkan
Borkan 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
#147,221
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
-2 bearers (-1.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,080 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 | #147,221 | 113 | 0.04 | -2 bearers (-1.7%) | Down 3,080 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 Borkan 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 | #147,221 | -2.1% |
| Count | 115 | 113 | -1.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Borkan bearers went from 115 to 113 (-1.7% change). The surname moved down 3,080 positions in the national ranking, going from #144,141 to #147,221.
FAQ
Borkan surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Borkan?
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the surname Borkan. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,636,572 residents.
How common is Borkan?
Borkan ranks #147,221 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 113 people with the surname Borkan. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (130), 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 Borkan.
Has Borkan become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Borkan went from 115 recorded bearers to 113. That is a decrease of 2 (-1.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #144,141 to #147,221.
What does the Census say about the background of Borkan?
Among Census respondents with the surname Borkan, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Black (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 Borkan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.8% (106 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Borkan appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.8%), Hispanic (4.4%), Black (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 Borkan (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 Borkan mean?
An aboriginal surname thought to be an Anglicized form of a Siouan 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 Borkan (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 are called Borkan?
Want to know how many people have the last name Borkan? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.