2000
#118,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 135
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Drenzek
A surname of uncertain origin, possibly derived from a place name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Drenzek. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Drenzek 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
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Drenzek in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Drenzek, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Drenzek
The surname Drenzek originates from the Silesian region of Poland, which historically stretched from modern-day southwestern Poland into parts of Germany and the Czech Republic. The name likely dates back to the 16th or 17th century, deriving from the old Slavic root word "drenz", meaning "to scratch" or "to scrape". This suggests the name may have originated as an occupational surname for someone who worked with materials like wood or stone, scraping or carving them.
Records from the 1600s in Silesian church documents show variations of the spelling, such as Drenczek, Drenzik, and Drentzek. These early mentions indicate the name was present among the Slavic population of the region during that time period. By the late 18th century, the more standardized spelling of Drenzek had become established.
One notable early bearer of the Drenzek name was Jan Drenzek, a craftsman and woodcarver born in the village of Boguszów (now Boguszów-Gorce) in 1712. His intricate woodcarvings adorned many churches and homes throughout Silesia. Another early Drenzek was Michał Drenzek, a farmer and landowner from the town of Strzegom, born in 1768.
As the Silesian region fell under Prussian control in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Drenzek name began appearing in Prussian census records and military documents. Piotr Drenzek, born in 1804 in Kłodzko, served in the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars.
In the mid-19th century, as industrialization took hold in Silesia, many Drenzeks migrated to larger cities seeking work. This led to the name spreading beyond its rural origins. One prominent figure was Józef Drenzek, an engineer and factory owner born in Wrocław in 1844.
Other notable Drenzeks throughout history include Franciszek Drenzek (1879-1954), a Polish journalist and political activist who campaigned for Silesian autonomy, and Maria Drenzek (1892-1976), a celebrated opera singer who performed across Europe in the early 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Drenzek
Among Census respondents with the surname Drenzek, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Drenzek 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 Drenzek surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 106
- Two or more races6.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Drenzek
Drenzek 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
#136,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 123
-12 bearers (-8.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 17,495 places
2020
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-9 bearers (-7.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 10,046 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #118,954 | 135 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #136,449 | 123 | 0.04 | -12 bearers (-8.9%) | Down 17,495 places |
| 2020 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | -9 bearers (-7.3%) | Down 10,046 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 Drenzek 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 | #136,449 | #146,495 | -7.4% |
| Count | 123 | 114 | -7.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Drenzek bearers went from 123 to 114 (-7.3% change). The surname moved down 10,046 positions in the national ranking, going from #136,449 to #146,495.
FAQ
Drenzek surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Drenzek?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Drenzek. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Drenzek?
Drenzek ranks #146,495 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 114 people with the surname Drenzek. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), 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 Drenzek.
Has Drenzek become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Drenzek went from 123 recorded bearers to 114. That is a decrease of 9 (-7.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #136,449 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Drenzek?
Among Census respondents with the surname Drenzek, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.9%). 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 Drenzek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (106 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Drenzek appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Two or More Races (6.1%), American Indian/Alaska Native (0.9%). 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 Drenzek (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 Drenzek mean?
A surname of uncertain origin, possibly derived from a place name. 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 Drenzek (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 many people have the last name Drenzek?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Drenzek is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.