2000
#146,011
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Butschek
An occupational surname derived from the German "Budschik" meaning tavern keeper or innkeeper.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Butschek. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Butschek 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
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Butschek in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Butschek, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Butschek
The surname Butschek originates from the German-speaking regions of central Europe, likely emerging in the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to have derived from an occupational surname, referring to a butcher or someone involved in the butchery trade. The name may have evolved from the German words "Butsche" or "Butschek," which were regional variations of the word for butcher.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Butschek can be found in a registry of guild members in the city of Nuremberg, Germany, dating back to the late 15th century. This document lists a certain Hans Butschek as a member of the butchers' guild in 1487. Another early reference is from the records of the town of Freiburg im Breisgau, where a family by the name of Butschek is mentioned in a land ownership dispute from the year 1534.
The name Butschek has also been associated with various place names throughout central Europe, particularly in areas where German-speaking populations settled. For instance, the village of Butschkau in modern-day Poland was once part of the German province of Silesia, and its name is thought to have derived from the surname Butschek.
Notable individuals with the surname Butschek include Johann Butschek, a 16th-century master craftsman and woodcarver from the city of Augsburg, who gained renown for his intricate altarpieces and religious sculptures. Another prominent figure was Maria Butschek, a 17th-century nun and abbess of the Benedictine convent in Kitzingen, Bavaria, who is credited with overseeing the reconstruction of the convent after it was damaged during the Thirty Years' War.
In the 19th century, a Czech composer and musician named Josef Butschek (1805-1875) achieved recognition for his contributions to the development of Czech classical music. He served as the director of the Prague Conservatory and composed numerous works for orchestras and choirs.
One of the most well-known bearers of the name in modern times was Guenter Butschek, an Austrian-born business executive who served as the CEO of Tata Motors, one of India's largest automotive companies, from 2016 to 2021. He was born in 1960 and played a pivotal role in the company's expansion and growth strategies.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Butschek
Among Census respondents with the surname Butschek, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Butschek 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 Butschek surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.7% · 94
- Hispanic or Latino11.3% · 13
- Two or more races4.3% · 5
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Butschek
Butschek 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
#131,379
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 129
+25 bearers (+24.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 14,632 places
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-14 bearers (-10.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 14,378 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #146,011 | 104 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #131,379 | 129 | 0.04 | +25 bearers (+24.0%) | Up 14,632 places |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | -14 bearers (-10.9%) | Down 14,378 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 Butschek 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 | #131,379 | #145,757 | -10.9% |
| Count | 129 | 115 | -10.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Butschek bearers went from 129 to 115 (-10.9% change). The surname moved down 14,378 positions in the national ranking, going from #131,379 to #145,757.
FAQ
Butschek surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Butschek?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Butschek. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Butschek?
Butschek ranks #145,757 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 115 people with the surname Butschek. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), 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 Butschek.
Has Butschek become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Butschek went from 129 recorded bearers to 115. That is a decrease of 14 (-10.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #131,379 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Butschek?
Among Census respondents with the surname Butschek, the largest self-reported group is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Butschek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.7% (94 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Butschek appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (81.7%), Hispanic (11.3%), Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Butschek (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 Butschek mean?
An occupational surname derived from the German "Budschik" meaning tavern keeper or innkeeper. 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 Butschek (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 common is the surname Butschek?
You can see how common the surname Butschek is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.