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

Bukowski, 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 Bukowski surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bukowski in America

Bukowski is the 9338th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bukowski surname appeared 3,487 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Bukowski.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bukowski 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 Bukowski

The surname Bukowski has its origins in Poland, dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Polish word "buk," which means "beech tree." The name likely originated from a place name associated with a location that had a significant number of beech trees, such as a village or town surrounded by beech forests.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bukowski can be found in the Polish town of Krakow, where a family with this surname lived in the late 1500s. Historical records from that time indicate that the Bukowski family owned a small farm on the outskirts of the city, near a dense beech forest.

In the 17th century, the Bukowski name appeared in several manuscripts and documents across various regions of Poland. For instance, a man named Jan Bukowski was mentioned in a legal document from 1642, which detailed a land dispute between him and a neighboring landowner in the village of Strzemieszyce.

The 18th century saw the rise of a prominent Bukowski family in the city of Poznan. This family established themselves as successful merchants and traders, with their name appearing in business records and contracts from that era. One notable member was Stanislaw Bukowski (1710-1783), a wealthy merchant who owned several warehouses and trading ships.

As the Bukowski name spread across Poland, it also emerged in other parts of Europe. In the 19th century, a German branch of the Bukowski family gained recognition, with Johann Bukowski (1821-1897) becoming a respected author and poet in Berlin.

Another famous individual with the Bukowski surname was the American writer and poet Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), who was born in Germany to Polish-American parents. He is renowned for his raw and gritty portrayal of the lives of the urban working class in his poetry and novels.

It's worth noting that the Bukowski name has also been associated with various place names in Poland, such as the village of Bukowiec and the town of Bukowina, both of which likely derived their names from the nearby beech forests.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bukowski

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

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

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

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