2000
#2,147
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 15,538
First available Census row
Per 100,000 5.76
Uncommon Last name
Horvath
A Croatian occupational surname derived from the word "Hrvat," meaning a Croat or someone from Croatia.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 16,500 Americans carry the last name Horvath. That puts it at #2,449 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 20,773 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Horvath 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 Horvath with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
17K
1 in 20,773
Census rank
#2,449
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
14K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 14,389 bearers of the surname Horvath in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2449th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Horvath, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Horvath
The surname Horvath is of Hungarian origin, derived from the Slavic word "Hrvat" meaning "Croat." It is believed to have emerged in the 9th or 10th century during the Magyar migration into the Carpathian Basin.
The name Horvath initially referred to individuals of Croatian descent who settled in the Kingdom of Hungary. The earliest known record of the name dates back to 1138, when it appeared in the Várad Regestrum, an ancient Hungarian manuscript.
In the 13th century, the Horvath family was among the noble families that received land grants from King Béla IV of Hungary for their military service against the Mongol invasion. This suggests the name's association with nobility and military prowess during that era.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Horvath was Gergely Horvath (1490-1552), a Hungarian Catholic cleric and historian who served as the Bishop of Veszprém. His most famous work, "Rerum Hungaricarum Decades," chronicled the history of Hungary from the 10th to the 16th century.
Another prominent figure was Mihály Horvath (1809-1878), a Hungarian lawyer, politician, and historian who served as the Minister of Religion and Education in the Hungarian Revolutionary Government of 1848-1849. He is renowned for his monumental work, "A History of Hungary," which covered the period from the Magyar conquest to the 19th century.
In the 18th century, the Horvath family played a significant role in the development of modern Croatian literature. Andrija Kačić Miošić (1690-1760), a Catholic friar and poet, wrote the famous epic poem "Razgovor ugodni naroda slovinskoga" (Pleasant Conversation of the Slavic People), which helped preserve and popularize Croatian folk traditions and legends.
Another notable figure was Ödön Horvath (1835-1901), a Hungarian engineer and inventor who developed the first modern electric motor capable of producing a rotary motion. His contributions were instrumental in the early development of electrical engineering and the widespread use of electric motors.
During the 20th century, Zoltán Horvath (1900-1966) was a renowned Hungarian filmmaker and screenwriter who directed several classic films, including "Ének a búzamezőkről" (Song of the Cornfields) and "Valamit visz a víz" (The River Carries Along), which explored the lives of ordinary Hungarians and rural communities.
While the surname Horvath has its roots in Hungary and Croatia, it has since spread worldwide, with descendants found in various countries, particularly those with significant Hungarian and Croatian diaspora communities.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Horvath
Among Census respondents with the surname Horvath, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Horvath 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 Horvath surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 13,378
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 461
- Two or more races2.4% · 345
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 121
- Black or African American0.5% · 71
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Horvath
Horvath 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
#2,379
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 15,302
-236 bearers (-1.5%)
Per 100,000 5.19
Rank movement Down 232 places
2020
#2,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 14,389
-913 bearers (-6.0%)
Per 100,000 4.81
Rank movement Down 70 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,147 | 15,538 | 5.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,379 | 15,302 | 5.19 | -236 bearers (-1.5%) | Down 232 places |
| 2020 | #2,449 | 14,389 | 4.81 | -913 bearers (-6.0%) | Down 70 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 Horvath 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 | #2,379 | #2,449 | -2.9% |
| Count | 15,302 | 14,389 | -6.0% |
| Per 100K | 5.19 | 4.81 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Horvath bearers went from 15,302 to 14,389 (-6.0% change). The surname moved down 70 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,379 to #2,449.
FAQ
Horvath surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Horvath?
Name Census estimates that about 16,500 living Americans carry the surname Horvath. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 20,773 residents.
How common is Horvath?
Horvath ranks #2,449 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.81 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 14,389 people with the surname Horvath. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (16,500), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.81 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Horvath.
Has Horvath become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Horvath went from 15,302 recorded bearers to 14,389. That is a decrease of 913 (-6.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,379 to #2,449.
What does the Census say about the background of Horvath?
Among Census respondents with the surname Horvath, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Horvath in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (13,378 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Horvath appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Hispanic (3.2%), Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Horvath (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 Horvath mean?
A Croatian occupational surname derived from the word "Hrvat," meaning a Croat or someone from Croatia. 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 Horvath (4.81 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 share the surname Horvath?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.