2000
#119,644
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 134
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Katzoff
An Americanized surname derived from a Yiddish name meaning "son of Cohen."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 134 Americans carry the last name Katzoff. That puts it at #144,270 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,557,868 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Katzoff 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
134
1 in 2,557,868
Census rank
#144,270
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
117
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 117 bearers of the surname Katzoff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 144270th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Katzoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Black (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Katzoff
The surname KATZOFF has its origins in Eastern Europe, particularly in the Slavic regions of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. It is a derivative of the Russian word "katsap," which was a derogatory term used by other Slavic groups to refer to Russians. The name likely emerged in the late 18th or early 19th century when surnames were becoming more standardized.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name KATZOFF can be found in the Russian census records of the early 1800s. It was primarily concentrated in rural areas of present-day Ukraine and Belarus, where many ethnic Russians had settled during the expansion of the Russian Empire.
The name KATZOFF may have also had its roots in various place names or toponyms that were common in the region. For example, the village of Katsovka in modern-day Ukraine, or the town of Katsovo in the Bryansk region of Russia, could have influenced the development of the surname.
In the late 19th century, as many Eastern European Jews were fleeing persecution and seeking new opportunities abroad, the KATZOFF name began to appear in immigration records and passenger lists of those traveling to the United States, Canada, and other destinations. One notable early bearer of the name was Isaac KATZOFF, a Russian-born immigrant who arrived in New York in 1892 and later became a successful businessman in the garment industry.
Another prominent figure was Sarah KATZOFF, a Ukrainian-born writer and activist who immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century. She was known for her advocacy work on behalf of Jewish refugees and her contributions to Yiddish literature.
In the realm of academia, the name KATZOFF is associated with Professor Raphael KATZOFF, a renowned historian and expert on ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Born in Ukraine in 1901, he taught at several universities in the United States and published numerous scholarly works before his death in 1987.
The KATZOFF name also has a legacy in the arts, with notable bearers such as the Russian-American painter and sculptor David KATZOFF (1919-1998), whose works were exhibited in galleries across the United States and Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the United Kingdom can be traced back to the 1881 census, where a family with the surname KATZOFF was listed as residing in London's East End, likely having arrived as part of the wave of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe in the late 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Katzoff
Among Census respondents with the surname Katzoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Black (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Katzoff 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 Katzoff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.2% · 102
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 7
- Black or African American3.4% · 4
- Two or more races2.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Katzoff
Katzoff 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
#126,018
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 136
+2 bearers (+1.5%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 6,374 places
2020
#144,270
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
-19 bearers (-14.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 18,252 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #119,644 | 134 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #126,018 | 136 | 0.05 | +2 bearers (+1.5%) | Down 6,374 places |
| 2020 | #144,270 | 117 | 0.04 | -19 bearers (-14.0%) | Down 18,252 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 Katzoff 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 | #126,018 | #144,270 | -14.5% |
| Count | 136 | 117 | -14.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -21.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Katzoff bearers went from 136 to 117 (-14.0% change). The surname moved down 18,252 positions in the national ranking, going from #126,018 to #144,270.
FAQ
Katzoff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Katzoff?
Name Census estimates that about 134 living Americans carry the surname Katzoff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,557,868 residents.
How common is Katzoff?
Katzoff ranks #144,270 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 117 people with the surname Katzoff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (134), 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 Katzoff.
Has Katzoff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Katzoff went from 136 recorded bearers to 117. That is a decrease of 19 (-14.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #126,018 to #144,270.
What does the Census say about the background of Katzoff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Katzoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Black (3.4%). 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 Katzoff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.2% (102 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Katzoff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.2%), Hispanic (6.0%), Black (3.4%). 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 Katzoff (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 Katzoff mean?
An Americanized surname derived from a Yiddish name meaning "son of Cohen." 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 Katzoff (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 Katzoff?
Want to know how many people have the surname Katzoff? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.