2000
#9,872
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,017
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.12
Rare Last name
Janik
Derived from a diminutive of the Slavic name Jan, meaning "God is gracious."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,098 Americans carry the last name Janik. That puts it at #11,195 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.90 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 110,637 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Janik 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 Janik with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.1K
1 in 110,637
Census rank
#11,195
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,702 bearers of the surname Janik in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.90 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11195th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Janik, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (1.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Janik
The surname Janik originated in Poland and the surrounding Slavic regions. It is derived from the Slavic personal name Jan, which is a variant of the name John. The suffix "-ik" was commonly added to Slavic names to create patronymic surnames, indicating the name belonged to the son of someone named Jan.
Janik is considered a Polish toponymic surname, meaning it was originally based on a place name. Many early instances of the name can be found in historical records from the area that is now western Poland and eastern Germany, such as the town of Janik in the Opole Voivodeship region.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Janik surname was Maciej Janik, a merchant and landowner from the village of Janik near Poznan, whose name appears in tax records from the early 16th century. Another early record is of Jan Janik, a Polish soldier who fought in the Siege of Vienna in 1683 against the Ottoman Empire.
During the Middle Ages, spelling variations were common, and the name can be found recorded as Janick, Jannick, Yannik, and other similar spellings. As Polish immigrants began arriving in other parts of Europe and North America in the 19th and 20th centuries, the surname Janik became more widely dispersed.
Notable individuals with the Janik surname include Michal Janik (1834-1925), a Polish mathematician and professor at the University of Warsaw; Antoni Janik (1863-1924), a Polish painter and art teacher; and Edmund Janik (1923-2005), an American professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s.
Other noteworthy bearers of the Janik name were Wladyslaw Janik (1856-1928), a Polish engineer and inventor of early aircraft designs; and Jan Janik (1900-1982), a Polish-born American architect who designed several landmark buildings in Chicago during the mid-20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Janik
Among Census respondents with the surname Janik, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (1.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Janik 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 Janik surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.6% · 2,530
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 94
- Two or more races1.5% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 17
- Black or African American0.6% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Janik
Janik 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
#9,901
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,265
+248 bearers (+8.2%)
Per 100,000 1.11
Rank movement Down 29 places
2020
#11,195
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,702
-563 bearers (-17.2%)
Per 100,000 0.90
Rank movement Down 1,294 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,872 | 3,017 | 1.12 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,901 | 3,265 | 1.11 | +248 bearers (+8.2%) | Down 29 places |
| 2020 | #11,195 | 2,702 | 0.90 | -563 bearers (-17.2%) | Down 1,294 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 Janik 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 | #9,901 | #11,195 | -13.1% |
| Count | 3,265 | 2,702 | -17.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.11 | 0.90 | -18.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Janik bearers went from 3,265 to 2,702 (-17.2% change). The surname moved down 1,294 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,901 to #11,195.
FAQ
Janik surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Janik?
Name Census estimates that about 3,098 living Americans carry the surname Janik. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 110,637 residents.
How common is Janik?
Janik ranks #11,195 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.90 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 2,702 people with the surname Janik. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,098), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.9 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.90 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 Janik.
Has Janik become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Janik went from 3,265 recorded bearers to 2,702. That is a decrease of 563 (-17.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,901 to #11,195.
What does the Census say about the background of Janik?
Among Census respondents with the surname Janik, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (1.5%). 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 Janik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.6% (2,530 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Janik appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.6%), Hispanic (3.5%), Two or More Races (1.5%). 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 Janik (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 Janik mean?
Derived from a diminutive of the Slavic name Jan, meaning "God is gracious." 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 Janik (0.90 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 common is the surname Janik?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the last name Janik on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.