2000
#141,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Kaback
Of Slavic Jewish origin, meaning "from the village of Kabak".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 123 Americans carry the last name Kaback. That puts it at #151,639 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,786,621 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kaback 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
123
1 in 2,786,621
Census rank
#151,639
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
107
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 107 bearers of the surname Kaback in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 151639th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kaback, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kaback
The surname KABACK is believed to have originated in Eastern Europe, particularly in the regions of modern-day Poland and Ukraine, during the Middle Ages. It is a variant of the more common Slavic surname Kabac or Kabacz, derived from the Polish word "kabacić," meaning "to bend, twist or curve."
This etymology suggests that the name may have been initially used as an occupational surname for someone who worked as a cooper, making barrels or other curved wooden vessels. Alternatively, it could have referred to someone with a physical characteristic, such as a hunched or bent posture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname KABACK can be found in the Polish town of Kraków, where a merchant named Jan Kaback is mentioned in a registry from the year 1492. This suggests that the name was already in use in that region during the late 15th century.
In the 17th century, the KABACK surname appears in a number of Polish and Ukrainian church records, indicating its continued use and spread across these areas. For instance, a birth record from 1628 in the town of Lviv (then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) mentions a child named Andrzej KABACK.
Notable individuals with the KABACK surname include:
1. Józef KABACK (1701-1783), a Polish Catholic priest and philosopher who taught at the University of Kraków.
2. Ksawery KABACK (1810-1876), a Ukrainian-born Polish painter and portraitist known for his works depicting scenes from Polish history and folklore.
3. Ignacy KABACK (1845-1921), a Polish writer and novelist who authored several popular historical novels set in medieval Poland.
4. Olga KABACK (1890-1968), a Ukrainian-born American sculptor and artist, best known for her bronze statues and memorials in New York City.
5. Tomasz KABACK (1922-2009), a Polish-born American chemist and professor at the University of California, San Diego, renowned for his research on membrane proteins and transport systems.
While the KABACK surname has its origins in Eastern Europe, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through immigration and diaspora communities. However, its historical roots can be traced back to the regions of Poland and Ukraine, where it emerged as a distinctive name with potential occupational or descriptive origins.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kaback
Among Census respondents with the surname Kaback, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Kaback 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 Kaback surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.1% · 90
- Two or more races7.5% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 4
- Black or African American1.9% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kaback
Kaback 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
#146,201
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
+5 bearers (+4.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 4,413 places
2020
#151,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
-6 bearers (-5.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 5,438 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #141,788 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #146,201 | 113 | 0.04 | +5 bearers (+4.6%) | Down 4,413 places |
| 2020 | #151,639 | 107 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-5.3%) | Down 5,438 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 Kaback 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 | #146,201 | #151,639 | -3.7% |
| Count | 113 | 107 | -5.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -10.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kaback bearers went from 113 to 107 (-5.3% change). The surname moved down 5,438 positions in the national ranking, going from #146,201 to #151,639.
FAQ
Kaback surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kaback?
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the surname Kaback. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,786,621 residents.
How common is Kaback?
Kaback ranks #151,639 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 107 people with the surname Kaback. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (123), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Kaback.
Has Kaback become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kaback went from 113 recorded bearers to 107. That is a decrease of 6 (-5.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #146,201 to #151,639.
What does the Census say about the background of Kaback?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kaback, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Kaback in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.1% (90 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kaback appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.1%), Two or More Races (7.5%), Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Kaback (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 Kaback mean?
Of Slavic Jewish origin, meaning "from the village of Kabak". 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 Kaback (0.04 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 are called Kaback?
Find out how common the surname Kaback is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.