2010
#157,234
National surname rank
First available Census row
An Americanized spelling of a Czech surname, possibly related to the name of the country or region.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Cesko. That puts it at #148,665 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,698,853 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Cesko 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
127
1 in 2,698,853
Census rank
#148,665
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
111
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 111 bearers of the surname Cesko in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 148665th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Cesko, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
Origin
The surname Cesko has its origins in the Czech Republic, and is believed to have first emerged during the 12th century. It is derived from the Old Czech word "čeští", which means "Czech" or "from Bohemia". This name was likely given to individuals who migrated from Bohemia to other parts of Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Cesko can be found in a 13th-century manuscript from the Cistercian monastery in Sedlec, near Kutná Hora. The document mentions a certain "Jan Cesko", who was a landowner in the region.
During the 15th century, the name appeared in several records from the cities of Prague and Brno. For example, a merchant named "Vaclav Cesko" is listed in the tax records of Prague from the year 1487.
In the 16th century, the surname Cesko began to spread to other parts of Europe as Bohemian settlers and merchants travelled westward. One notable individual from this period was "Jiri Cesko" (1523-1588), a Protestant reformer and theologian who studied at the University of Wittenberg and later became a professor at the University of Prague.
The 17th century saw the emergence of the Cesko family in the village of Velké Popovice, near Prague. This family produced several notable figures, including "Frantisek Cesko" (1612-1679), a renowned mathematician and astronomer who worked at the Prague Observatory.
In the 18th century, the name Cesko appeared in various records from the German-speaking regions of Central Europe. One example is "Johann Cesko" (1735-1798), a successful merchant from the city of Dresden who traded in Czech glassware and textiles.
Throughout history, the surname Cesko has been associated with several notable individuals, including "Karel Cesko" (1842-1919), a Czech composer and conductor who wrote numerous operas and orchestral works, and "Olga Cesko" (1875-1948), a pioneering Czech female writer and journalist who campaigned for women's rights and education.
Demographics
Among Census respondents with the surname Cesko, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Cesko 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 Cesko surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
Timeline
Cesko 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.
2010
National surname rank
First available Census row
2020
National surname rank
+8 bearers (+7.8%)
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | +8 bearers (+7.8%) | Up 8,569 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
How has the Cesko surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #157,234 | #148,665 | 5.4% |
| Count | 103 | 111 | 7.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 23.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Cesko bearers went from 103 to 111 (+7.8% change). The surname moved up 8,569 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #148,665.
FAQ
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Cesko. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
Cesko ranks #148,665 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.
The raw 2020 Census file counted 111 people with the surname Cesko. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (127), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
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 Cesko.
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Cesko went from 103 recorded bearers to 111. That is an increase of 8 (+7.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #148,665.
Among Census respondents with the surname Cesko, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (3.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Cesko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (99 people in the source table).
Cesko appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.2%), Two or More Races (4.5%), Hispanic (3.6%). 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.
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 Cesko (2010, 2020).
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.
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.
An Americanized spelling of a Czech surname, possibly related to the name of the country or region. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
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.
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 Cesko (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.
If you just want to know how common the surname Cesko is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.