2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Hajnal
A surname of Hungarian origin meaning "dawn" or "daybreak".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 120 Americans carry the last name Hajnal. That puts it at #152,989 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,856,286 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hajnal 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
120
1 in 2,856,286
Census rank
#152,989
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
105
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 105 bearers of the surname Hajnal in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152989th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hajnal, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hajnal
The surname HAJNAL has its origins in Hungary and is derived from the Hungarian word "hajnal" meaning "dawn" or "daybreak". This suggests that the name may have been originally given as a descriptive name or nickname to someone who was an early riser or associated with the morning.
The earliest recorded instances of the HAJNAL surname can be traced back to the 16th century in various Hungarian records and documents. Some of the earliest known bearers of the name include János Hajnal, a landowner in the village of Tákos in 1567, and Mihály Hajnal, a craftsman in the town of Győr in 1592.
In the 17th century, the HAJNAL name appeared in various Hungarian census records and tax rolls, indicating that it was well-established in different regions of the country. For example, in 1635, a farmer named István Hajnal was recorded in the village of Nagybajcs, while in 1679, a merchant named György Hajnal was listed in the town of Kecskemét.
One notable bearer of the HAJNAL surname was István Hajnal, a Hungarian historian and professor who lived from 1892 to 1953. He specialized in the study of economic and social history, and his works include "The Role of the Byzantine Civil War of 1341-1354 in the Formation of the Ottoman Empire" and "The Intellectual Roots of Economic Nationalism in the Renaissance".
Another prominent figure with the HAJNAL surname was the Hungarian mathematician and physicist János Hajnal, who lived from 1924 to 2016. He made significant contributions to set theory, combinatorics, and graph theory, and is best known for the Hajnal Set-Mapping Theorem and the Hajnal Lemma.
In the 20th century, the HAJNAL name continued to be found in various parts of Hungary, as well as in some Hungarian communities in neighboring countries like Romania and Slovakia, where some Hungarians had settled over the centuries.
While the HAJNAL surname is most commonly associated with Hungary, it is also found in other countries with significant Hungarian populations, such as Canada, the United States, and Australia, due to immigration from Hungary over the past few centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hajnal
Among Census respondents with the surname Hajnal, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Hajnal 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 Hajnal surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.8% · 89
- Two or more races6.7% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 5
- Black or African American1.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hajnal
Hajnal 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.
2020
#152,989
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
+2 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 4,245 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #152,989 | 105 | 0.04 | +2 bearers (+1.9%) | Up 4,245 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 Hajnal 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 | #157,234 | #152,989 | 2.7% |
| Count | 103 | 105 | 1.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 17.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hajnal bearers went from 103 to 105 (+1.9% change). The surname moved up 4,245 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #152,989.
FAQ
Hajnal surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hajnal?
Name Census estimates that about 120 living Americans carry the surname Hajnal. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,856,286 residents.
How common is Hajnal?
Hajnal ranks #152,989 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 105 people with the surname Hajnal. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (120), 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 Hajnal.
Has Hajnal become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hajnal went from 103 recorded bearers to 105. That is an increase of 2 (+1.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #152,989.
What does the Census say about the background of Hajnal?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hajnal, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Hajnal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.8% (89 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hajnal appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.8%), Two or More Races (6.7%), Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Hajnal (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 Hajnal mean?
A surname of Hungarian origin meaning "dawn" or "daybreak". 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 Hajnal (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 Americans have the surname Hajnal?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.