2000
#150,436
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Hamski
A surname derived from a Polish place name or location.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Hamski. 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 Hamski 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 Hamski 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 Hamski, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hamski
The surname HAMSKI has its origins in the Slavic region of Eastern Europe, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Polish word "ham," meaning "blacksmith," suggesting that the name likely originated from a family or individual involved in metalworking trades.
One of the earliest known references to the name HAMSKI can be found in the village records of Krakow, Poland, where a blacksmith named Jan HAMSKI was mentioned in 1574. These records also indicate that the name was sometimes spelled as "HAMSKY" or "HAMSKI" during that period.
As the name spread throughout the region, it became associated with certain geographical locations. For instance, the village of Hamskivka in modern-day Ukraine is thought to have been named after a HAMSKI family residing there in the 17th century.
In the 18th century, records show a notable HAMSKI named Aleksander HAMSKI (1725-1792), who was a respected craftsman and metalworker in the city of Lviv, which at the time was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Another prominent figure with this surname was Michal HAMSKI (1786-1857), a Polish military officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and later participated in the November Uprising against the Russian Empire.
As the 19th century progressed, the HAMSKI name continued to appear in various historical documents across Eastern Europe. One such example is Franciszek HAMSKI (1818-1891), a renowned Polish architect who designed several notable buildings in the city of Warsaw.
In the early 20th century, a HAMSKI family in Krakow produced a distinguished scholar, Stanislaw HAMSKI (1892-1976), who became a respected professor of linguistics at the Jagiellonian University.
Another individual of note was Wladyslaw HAMSKI (1905-1989), a Polish journalist and writer who chronicled the experiences of Polish immigrants in the United States during the mid-20th century.
While the HAMSKI surname has its roots in Eastern Europe, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to immigration and diaspora communities. However, the name's enduring legacy remains firmly tied to its Slavic origins and the metalworking trades that gave rise to its distinctive etymology.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hamski
Among Census respondents with the surname Hamski, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Hamski 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 Hamski surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.2% · 109
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hamski
Hamski 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
#156,044
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
+4 bearers (+4.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 5,608 places
2020
#148,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
+7 bearers (+6.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 7,379 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #150,436 | 100 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #156,044 | 104 | 0.04 | +4 bearers (+4.0%) | Down 5,608 places |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | +7 bearers (+6.7%) | Up 7,379 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 Hamski 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 | #156,044 | #148,665 | 4.7% |
| Count | 104 | 111 | 6.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hamski bearers went from 104 to 111 (+6.7% change). The surname moved up 7,379 positions in the national ranking, going from #156,044 to #148,665.
FAQ
Hamski surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hamski?
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Hamski. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
How common is Hamski?
Hamski 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.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 111 people with the surname Hamski. 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.
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 Hamski.
Has Hamski become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hamski went from 104 recorded bearers to 111. That is an increase of 7 (+6.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #156,044 to #148,665.
What does the Census say about the background of Hamski?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hamski, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.9%) and Two or More Races (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 Hamski in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.2% (109 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hamski appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.2%), Hispanic (0.9%), Two or More Races (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 Hamski (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 Hamski mean?
A surname derived from a Polish place name or location. 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 Hamski (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 Hamski?
See how many people have the surname Hamski on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.