2000
#128,797
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 122
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Horelick
A surname of Slavic origin possibly referring to a person from a hilly or mountainous region.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Horelick. That puts it at #153,590 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,880,289 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Horelick 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
119
1 in 2,880,289
Census rank
#153,590
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
104
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 104 bearers of the surname Horelick in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 153590th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Horelick, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (1.9%) and Hispanic (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Horelick
The surname Horelick 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 variant of the more common surname Horelik or Horelyk.
The name is derived from the Polish word "horelyk," which means "distiller" or "maker of strong alcoholic beverages." This suggests that the earliest bearers of this surname may have been individuals involved in the production or trade of vodka, beer, or other spirits.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Horelick surname can be found in the Polish parish records from the mid-17th century. In 1658, a certain Jan Horelick is mentioned as a resident of the village of Kazimierz Dolny, located in the Lublin region of eastern Poland.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, as the Russian Empire expanded its territories, many Poles and Ukrainians with surnames like Horelick migrated to other parts of the empire, including present-day Belarus and Lithuania. This diaspora contributed to the wider dissemination of the name across Eastern Europe.
Notable individuals with the Horelick surname include Ignacy Horelick (1785-1861), a Polish engineer and architect who designed several notable buildings in Warsaw and Krakow. Another prominent figure was Teodor Horelick (1832-1908), a Ukrainian writer and journalist who advocated for the rights of ethnic Ukrainians within the Russian Empire.
In the late 19th century, the surname Horelick began to appear in records of immigrants to the United States and Canada, as many Eastern Europeans sought new opportunities in the New World. One such individual was Kazimierz Horelick (1872-1946), a Polish-born tailor who settled in Chicago and became a respected member of the city's Polish community.
Another notable bearer of the Horelick name was Olga Horelick (1897-1978), a Russian-born artist and painter who emigrated to the United States in the 1920s and became known for her vibrant depictions of urban life in New York City.
While the surname Horelick is not among the most common in the world, it has a rich history rooted in the cultural traditions of Eastern Europe, and its bearers have made significant contributions in various fields throughout the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Horelick
Among Census respondents with the surname Horelick, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (1.9%) and Hispanic (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Horelick 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 Horelick surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.2% · 100
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Horelick
Horelick 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
#143,149
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
-6 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 14,352 places
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
-12 bearers (-10.3%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 10,441 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #128,797 | 122 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #143,149 | 116 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-4.9%) | Down 14,352 places |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | -12 bearers (-10.3%) | Down 10,441 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 Horelick 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 | #143,149 | #153,590 | -7.3% |
| Count | 116 | 104 | -10.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Horelick bearers went from 116 to 104 (-10.3% change). The surname moved down 10,441 positions in the national ranking, going from #143,149 to #153,590.
FAQ
Horelick surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Horelick?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Horelick. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Horelick?
Horelick ranks #153,590 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 104 people with the surname Horelick. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (119), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Horelick.
Has Horelick become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Horelick went from 116 recorded bearers to 104. That is a decrease of 12 (-10.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #143,149 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Horelick?
Among Census respondents with the surname Horelick, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (1.9%) and Hispanic (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 Horelick in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Horelick appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.2%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.9%), Hispanic (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 Horelick (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 Horelick mean?
A surname of Slavic origin possibly referring to a person from a hilly or mountainous region. 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 Horelick (0.03 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 Horelick?
Find out how many people have the last name Horelick on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.