2000
#13,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,020
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.75
Rare Last name
Janowski
A habitational surname referring to someone from any of various places called Janów or Janowo in Poland.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,285 Americans carry the last name Janowski. That puts it at #14,430 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 150,002 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Janowski 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 Janowski with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 150,002
Census rank
#14,430
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,993 bearers of the surname Janowski in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14430th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Janowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Janowski
The surname Janowski originated in Poland in the late medieval period. It likely derived from the Polish masculine given name Jan, a variant of the name John. The suffix "-owski" indicates a place of origin or possession.
Janowski is thought to have first appeared as a surname in the 14th century, referring to someone from a particular village or estate. Early records show variations in spelling such as Janowsky, Janovsky, and Janowicz.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jakub Janowski, a landowner and nobleman mentioned in a 1412 document from the town of Krakow. Another early reference is Marcin Janowski, a merchant from the city of Gdansk, listed in a trade register from 1489.
In the 16th century, the Janowski name appeared in the Metryka Koronna, a collection of historical records from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The 1578 entry recorded the marriage of Piotr Janowski and Anna Wierzbicka.
Notable figures with the Janowski surname include Ludwik Janowski (1878-1941), a Polish painter and art professor known for his landscapes and portraits. Teodor Janowski (1854-1944) was a renowned architect who designed several iconic buildings in Warsaw.
Other historical bearers of the name are Zygmunt Janowski (1888-1920), a Polish military officer and cavalry commander who fought in World War I, and Konstanty Janowski (1876-1932), a influential chess master and one of the world's top players in the early 20th century.
The village of Janowice in southwestern Poland likely derived its name from early residents with the Janowski surname, reflecting the common practice of using surnames to identify places of origin.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Janowski
Among Census respondents with the surname Janowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Janowski 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 Janowski surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.5% · 1,863
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 54
- Two or more races2.3% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 17
- Black or African American0.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Janowski
Janowski 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
#14,558
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,047
+27 bearers (+1.3%)
Per 100,000 0.69
Rank movement Down 803 places
2020
#14,430
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,993
-54 bearers (-2.6%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Up 128 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,755 | 2,020 | 0.75 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,558 | 2,047 | 0.69 | +27 bearers (+1.3%) | Down 803 places |
| 2020 | #14,430 | 1,993 | 0.67 | -54 bearers (-2.6%) | Up 128 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 Janowski 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 | #14,558 | #14,430 | 0.9% |
| Count | 2,047 | 1,993 | -2.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.69 | 0.67 | -3.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Janowski bearers went from 2,047 to 1,993 (-2.6% change). The surname moved up 128 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,558 to #14,430.
FAQ
Janowski surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Janowski?
Name Census estimates that about 2,285 living Americans carry the surname Janowski. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 150,002 residents.
How common is Janowski?
Janowski ranks #14,430 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.67 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 1,993 people with the surname Janowski. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,285), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.67 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.67 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 Janowski.
Has Janowski become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Janowski went from 2,047 recorded bearers to 1,993. That is a decrease of 54 (-2.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,558 to #14,430.
What does the Census say about the background of Janowski?
Among Census respondents with the surname Janowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Janowski in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (1,863 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Janowski appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.5%), Hispanic (2.7%), Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Janowski (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 Janowski mean?
A habitational surname referring to someone from any of various places called Janów or Janowo in Poland. 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 Janowski (0.67 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 Janowski?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.