2000
#123,314
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 129
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Dwork
A surname of Yiddish origin referring to a village or town.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 122 Americans carry the last name Dwork. That puts it at #152,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,809,462 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dwork 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
122
1 in 2,809,462
Census rank
#152,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
106
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 106 bearers of the surname Dwork in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dwork, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dwork
The surname DWORK has its origins in Eastern Europe, specifically in the regions of modern-day Poland and Ukraine. It likely emerged in the 16th or 17th century as a locative name, derived from a particular place or settlement.
One possible source of the name is the Polish word "dworek," which refers to a small manor house or a noble's residence. It could have been given to someone who lived near or worked at such a manor. Alternatively, it might stem from the Ukrainian word "dvor," meaning a courtyard or a farmstead.
Early records of the DWORK surname can be found in various historical documents from the region, such as parish registers and land records. One notable mention is in a 17th-century manuscript from the archives of the city of Lviv, which was then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The earliest known bearer of the DWORK surname is Jan Dwork, who was born around 1620 in the village of Brzesko, near Kraków, Poland. Another prominent figure was Iwan Dwork, a Ukrainian Cossack leader who fought against the Polish nobility in the mid-17th century during the Khmelnytsky Uprising.
In the 18th century, the DWORK name appears in various records from the Galicia region, which was then part of the Austrian Empire. One notable example is Andrzej Dwork, a landowner and philanthropist from the town of Tarnów, who lived from 1745 to 1821.
As the DWORK family spread across Eastern Europe, variations in spelling emerged, such as Dworski, Dworski, and Dvoretsky. These variants often reflected local linguistic influences or transcription practices.
One of the most famous bearers of the DWORK surname was Stanisław Dwork, a Polish composer and pianist who lived from 1879 to 1944. He was known for his compositions inspired by Polish folk music and his collaborations with renowned writers and poets of his time.
Another notable figure was Henryk Dwork, a Polish-American scientist and engineer who played a crucial role in the development of radar technology during World War II. He was born in 1900 in Kraków and later immigrated to the United States, where he worked for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dwork
Among Census respondents with the surname Dwork, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Dwork 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 Dwork surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.7% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 3
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dwork
Dwork 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
#150,452
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
-20 bearers (-15.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 27,138 places
2020
#152,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
-3 bearers (-2.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 1,887 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #123,314 | 129 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #150,452 | 109 | 0.04 | -20 bearers (-15.5%) | Down 27,138 places |
| 2020 | #152,339 | 106 | 0.04 | -3 bearers (-2.8%) | Down 1,887 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 Dwork 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 | #150,452 | #152,339 | -1.3% |
| Count | 109 | 106 | -2.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dwork bearers went from 109 to 106 (-2.8% change). The surname moved down 1,887 positions in the national ranking, going from #150,452 to #152,339.
FAQ
Dwork surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dwork?
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the surname Dwork. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,809,462 residents.
How common is Dwork?
Dwork ranks #152,339 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 106 people with the surname Dwork. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (122), 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 Dwork.
Has Dwork become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dwork went from 109 recorded bearers to 106. That is a decrease of 3 (-2.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #150,452 to #152,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Dwork?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dwork, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%). 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 Dwork in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.7% (93 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dwork appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.7%), Hispanic (7.5%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%). 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 Dwork (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 Dwork mean?
A surname of Yiddish origin referring to a village or town. 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 Dwork (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 Dwork?
You can see how many people have the surname Dwork on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.