2000
#14,976
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,811
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.67
Rare Last name
Drozd
A surname of East Slavic origin referring to a person who watched over and maintained forests.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,118 Americans carry the last name Drozd. That puts it at #15,296 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 161,829 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Drozd 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Drozd with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.1K
1 in 161,829
Census rank
#15,296
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,847 bearers of the surname Drozd in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15296th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Drozd, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Drozd
The surname DROZD is of Polish origin and dates back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Polish word "drozd," which means "thrush," a type of small songbird. The name likely originated as a nickname for someone who had a melodious voice or enjoyed singing.
The earliest recorded instances of the DROZD surname can be found in historical documents from the Krakow region of Poland. One notable mention is in the court records of the town of Tarnow from the year 1568, where a certain Jan DROZD is listed as a witness in a legal dispute.
In the 17th century, the DROZD surname began to spread to other parts of Poland, as well as neighboring countries such as Ukraine and Belarus. This was likely due to migration and the expansion of trade routes during that time period.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the DROZD surname was Mikołaj DROZD, a Polish nobleman and military leader who fought in the Polish-Swedish War in the mid-17th century. He was born in 1620 in the village of Radzymin, near Warsaw, and died in 1678.
Another notable DROZD was Adam DROZD, a Polish composer and musician who lived in the late 18th century. He was born in 1760 in Lviv, which was then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and is known for his compositions for the lute and theorbo.
In the 19th century, the DROZD surname continued to be prevalent in Poland, as well as in areas with significant Polish populations, such as parts of modern-day Ukraine and Belarus. One example is Jan DROZD, a Polish-Ukrainian poet and writer who was born in 1826 in the town of Zbarazh, which is now in western Ukraine.
Another notable DROZD from this period was Franciszek DROZD, a Polish painter and art teacher who lived from 1834 to 1903. He was born in the village of Lubartów, near Lublin, and is best known for his landscape paintings depicting the Polish countryside.
As the DROZD surname spread throughout Eastern Europe, it also found its way to other parts of the world through immigration. For instance, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many individuals with the DROZD surname immigrated to the United States, particularly to cities with large Polish communities, such as Chicago and Detroit.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Drozd
Among Census respondents with the surname Drozd, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Drozd 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 Drozd surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.5% · 1,727
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 85
- Two or more races1.0% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 14
- Black or African American0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Drozd
Drozd 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
#15,743
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,852
+41 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 0.63
Rank movement Down 767 places
2020
#15,296
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,847
-5 bearers (-0.3%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Up 447 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,976 | 1,811 | 0.67 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,743 | 1,852 | 0.63 | +41 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 767 places |
| 2020 | #15,296 | 1,847 | 0.62 | -5 bearers (-0.3%) | Up 447 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 Drozd 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 | #15,743 | #15,296 | 2.8% |
| Count | 1,852 | 1,847 | -0.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.63 | 0.62 | -1.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Drozd bearers went from 1,852 to 1,847 (-0.3% change). The surname moved up 447 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,743 to #15,296.
FAQ
Drozd surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Drozd?
Name Census estimates that about 2,118 living Americans carry the surname Drozd. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 161,829 residents.
How common is Drozd?
Drozd ranks #15,296 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,847 people with the surname Drozd. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Drozd.
Has Drozd become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Drozd went from 1,852 recorded bearers to 1,847. That is a decrease of 5 (-0.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #15,743 to #15,296.
What does the Census say about the background of Drozd?
Among Census respondents with the surname Drozd, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Drozd in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (1,727 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Drozd appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.5%), Hispanic (4.6%), Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Drozd (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 Drozd mean?
A surname of East Slavic origin referring to a person who watched over and maintained forests. 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 Drozd (0.62 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 Drozd?
See how common the surname Drozd is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.