2000
#7,771
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,943
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.46
Rare Last name
Borowski
Polish toponymic surname derived from place names such as Borowo or Borów, meaning "place of the forest."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,963 Americans carry the last name Borowski. That puts it at #9,081 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.16 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 86,489 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Borowski 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Borowski with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.0K
1 in 86,489
Census rank
#9,081
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,456 bearers of the surname Borowski in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.16 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9081st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Borowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.4%) and Two or More Races (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Borowski
The surname Borowski originates from Poland, emerging in the medieval period around the 13th century. It is derived from the Polish word "bor," which means "pine forest" or "coniferous trees," suggesting that the name's earliest bearers may have resided in or near a pine forest or worked in forestry-related occupations.
The name is believed to have originated in the region of Mazovia, central Poland, where many early records of the surname can be found. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in a 1357 document from the town of Płock, which mentions a person named "Marcin Borowski."
In the 15th century, the name appears in the Metryka Koronna, a collection of official documents from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A notable entry is Jan Borowski, a landowner from the Kalisz region mentioned in a document dated 1478.
The Borowski surname can also be found in the famous Bychawski Chronicle, a 16th-century manuscript chronicling the history of the town of Bychawa. This document mentions a local nobleman named Mikołaj Borowski, who lived in the late 15th century.
One of the earliest prominent figures with the surname was Andrzej Borowski, a Polish Renaissance poet and translator born in 1534. He is best known for his translations of ancient Greek and Roman works into Polish.
Another notable individual was Stanisław Borowski, a 17th-century Polish nobleman and military leader who fought in the Polish-Swedish War (1655-1660). He was born in 1628 and served as a colonel in the Polish army.
In the 18th century, Franciszek Borowski (1748-1828) was a Polish historian and numismatist who made significant contributions to the study of Polish coins and medals.
The 19th century saw the rise of Tadeusz Borowski (1822-1901), a Polish writer and journalist who founded several newspapers and advocated for Polish independence during the partitions of Poland.
In the 20th century, the name gained international recognition through the works of writer and Holocaust survivor Tadeusz Borowski (1922-1951), whose short stories, such as "This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen," depicted the atrocities of Nazi concentration camps.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Borowski
Among Census respondents with the surname Borowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.4%) and Two or More Races (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Borowski 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 Borowski surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.1% · 3,252
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 83
- Two or more races2.1% · 71
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 12
- Black or African American0.3% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Borowski
Borowski appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#8,609
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,821
-122 bearers (-3.1%)
Per 100,000 1.30
Rank movement Down 838 places
2020
#9,081
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,456
-365 bearers (-9.6%)
Per 100,000 1.16
Rank movement Down 472 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,771 | 3,943 | 1.46 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,609 | 3,821 | 1.30 | -122 bearers (-3.1%) | Down 838 places |
| 2020 | #9,081 | 3,456 | 1.16 | -365 bearers (-9.6%) | Down 472 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 Borowski 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 | #8,609 | #9,081 | -5.5% |
| Count | 3,821 | 3,456 | -9.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.30 | 1.16 | -11.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Borowski bearers went from 3,821 to 3,456 (-9.6% change). The surname moved down 472 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,609 to #9,081.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Borowski
FAQ
Borowski surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Borowski?
Name Census estimates that about 3,963 living Americans carry the surname Borowski. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 86,489 residents.
How common is Borowski?
Borowski ranks #9,081 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.16 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,456 people with the surname Borowski. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,963), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.16 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.16 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Borowski.
Has Borowski become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Borowski went from 3,821 recorded bearers to 3,456. That is a decrease of 365 (-9.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,609 to #9,081.
What does the Census say about the background of Borowski?
Among Census respondents with the surname Borowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.4%) and Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Borowski in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (3,252 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Borowski appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.1%), Hispanic (2.4%), Two or More Races (2.1%). 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 Borowski (2000, 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 Borowski mean?
Polish toponymic surname derived from place names such as Borowo or Borów, meaning "place of the forest." 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 Borowski (1.16 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 Borowski?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.