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

Cermak, 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 Cermak surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cermak in America

Cermak is the 16860th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cermak surname appeared 1,692 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 Cermak.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cermak 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 Cermak

The surname Cermak is of Czech origin and can be traced back to the 13th century in the region of Bohemia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. It is derived from the Old Czech word "črmen," meaning a deep red or crimson color, and was likely an occupational name for a dyer or someone who worked with red dyes.

Early records show variations in the spelling, such as Czermak, Cermack, and Čermák, reflecting the different dialects and regional pronunciations. The name can be found in historical records from the region, including the Codex Diplomatics et Epistolaris Regni Bohemiae, a collection of documents from the 13th to the 15th century.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jan Čermák, a wealthy merchant and landowner who lived in the town of Pilsen in the late 14th century. His family's coat of arms, which featured a crimson field, is still preserved in the archives of the city.

In the 16th century, the name appears in the records of the University of Prague, where several Cermak students were enrolled. One notable example is Václav Cermak, a philosopher and scholar who studied at the university in the 1540s.

The name also has associations with the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), during which several Cermak soldiers fought in the ranks of the Bohemian armies. One such soldier was Matěj Čermák, who served under the command of Count Albrecht von Wallenstein and was reportedly killed in the Battle of Lützen in 1632.

In more recent times, one of the most famous bearers of the name was Anton Cermak (1873-1933), an American politician of Czech descent who served as the 49th Mayor of Chicago. He was tragically assassinated in 1933 during a visit to Miami, where he was struck by a bullet intended for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Other notable individuals with the surname Cermak include Jaroslav Čermák (1830-1878), a Czech writer and poet; Rudolf Cermak (1915-1991), an Austrian actor and film director; and Petr Čermák (born 1950), a Czech ice hockey player who won a bronze medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cermak

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

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

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

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