2000
#13,584
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,050
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.76
Rare Last name
Hruska
A Czech occupational surname referring to a pear tree grower or someone living near a pear tree.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,159 Americans carry the last name Hruska. That puts it at #15,050 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.63 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 158,756 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hruska 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
2.2K
1 in 158,756
Census rank
#15,050
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,883 bearers of the surname Hruska in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.63 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15050th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hruska, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hruska
The surname Hruska is of Czech origin, derived from the Czech word 'hruska' meaning 'pear tree'. It is believed to have originated as a descriptive surname referring to someone who lived near a pear orchard or a place where pear trees grew abundantly.
In the early Middle Ages, surnames were not widely used in most parts of Europe. People were typically identified by their given name, occupation, or the place they were from. Surnames began to become more common in the 12th and 13th centuries as populations grew and people needed a way to distinguish themselves from others with the same given name.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Hruska can be found in Czech historical records and documents dating back to the 15th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jan Hruska, a landowner in the village of Velky Osek, near the city of Kolin in central Bohemia, who was mentioned in a land registry in 1428.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Hruska appeared in various forms, including Hruschka, Hruszka, and Hruschky, reflecting regional variations in spelling and pronunciation. Some notable bearers of the name from this period include Vaclav Hruska (1547-1618), a Catholic priest and writer from Prague, and Jiri Hruska (1619-1677), a Baroque painter from Litomerice.
During the 19th century, many Hruska families immigrated to the United States, particularly from the regions of Bohemia and Moravia, which were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. One of the earliest recorded Hruskas in America was Frantisek Hruska (1824-1891), who settled in New York City in the 1850s and worked as a tailor.
Other notable individuals with the surname Hruska include Roman Hruska (1867-1952), a Czech composer and conductor; Jaroslav Hruska (1907-1986), a Czech politician and lawyer who served as President of Czechoslovakia from 1975 to 1976; and Roman L. Hruska (1904-1999), an American politician who served as a Republican Senator from Nebraska from 1954 to 1976.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hruska
Among Census respondents with the surname Hruska, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Hruska 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 Hruska surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.2% · 1,773
- Two or more races2.7% · 51
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 14
- Black or African American0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hruska
Hruska 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
#15,033
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,965
-85 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Down 1,449 places
2020
#15,050
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,883
-82 bearers (-4.2%)
Per 100,000 0.63
Rank movement Down 17 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,584 | 2,050 | 0.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,033 | 1,965 | 0.67 | -85 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 1,449 places |
| 2020 | #15,050 | 1,883 | 0.63 | -82 bearers (-4.2%) | Down 17 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 Hruska 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 | #15,033 | #15,050 | -0.1% |
| Count | 1,965 | 1,883 | -4.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.67 | 0.63 | -6.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hruska bearers went from 1,965 to 1,883 (-4.2% change). The surname moved down 17 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,033 to #15,050.
FAQ
Hruska surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hruska?
Name Census estimates that about 2,159 living Americans carry the surname Hruska. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 158,756 residents.
How common is Hruska?
Hruska ranks #15,050 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.63 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,883 people with the surname Hruska. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,159), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.63 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.63 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Hruska.
Has Hruska become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hruska went from 1,965 recorded bearers to 1,883. That is a decrease of 82 (-4.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #15,033 to #15,050.
What does the Census say about the background of Hruska?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hruska, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Hruska in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (1,773 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hruska appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.2%), Two or More Races (2.7%), Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Hruska (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 Hruska mean?
A Czech occupational surname referring to a pear tree grower or someone living near a pear tree. 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 Hruska (0.63 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 surname Hruska?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.