2000
#120,330
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 133
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Kopacki
Polish habitational surname deriving from a place called Kopaczka or Kopaczew.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 126 Americans carry the last name Kopacki. That puts it at #149,446 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,720,273 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kopacki 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
126
1 in 2,720,273
Census rank
#149,446
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
110
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 110 bearers of the surname Kopacki in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 149446th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopacki, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kopacki
The surname KOPACKI originated in Poland and is a toponymic name derived from the Polish town of Kopaczów. The name traces its roots back to the 15th century, with the earliest recorded instances found in historical documents from that era.
KOPACKI is derived from the Polish word "kopacz," which means "digger" or "pit worker." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who worked in mining or excavation activities. The suffix "-owski" or "-ski" is a common Polish surname ending that denotes a person's place of origin or residence.
In the 16th century, the name KOPACKI appeared in various municipal records and land registries across the regions of Greater Poland and Silesia. One notable early bearer of the name was Jan Kopacki, a prominent landowner and merchant who lived in the town of Poznań in the late 1500s.
During the 17th century, the KOPACKI family established itself as a respected noble lineage in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Jakub Kopacki (1620-1692) was a renowned military commander who fought in the Polish-Swedish wars, and his exploits were documented in contemporary chronicles.
Another notable KOPACKI was Aleksander Kopacki (1780-1853), a renowned scholar and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of Slavic languages. He served as a professor at the University of Warsaw and authored several influential works on Polish grammar and lexicography.
In the 19th century, the KOPACKI name gained prominence in the fields of art and literature. Antoni Kopacki (1822-1898) was a celebrated painter known for his masterful landscapes and portraits, while Zofia Kopacka (1845-1912) was a acclaimed novelist and playwright whose works explored themes of social justice and women's rights.
Over the centuries, variations of the KOPACKI surname have included Kopacki, Kopatzki, and Kopatzky, reflecting the diverse geographic regions where Polish immigrants settled. However, the core spelling of KOPACKI has remained the most prevalent form of the name throughout its long history.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kopacki
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopacki, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Kopacki 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 Kopacki surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.5% · 105
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 2
- Two or more races1.8% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kopacki
Kopacki 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
#134,712
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 125
-8 bearers (-6.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 14,382 places
2020
#149,446
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
-15 bearers (-12.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 14,734 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #120,330 | 133 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #134,712 | 125 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-6.0%) | Down 14,382 places |
| 2020 | #149,446 | 110 | 0.04 | -15 bearers (-12.0%) | Down 14,734 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 Kopacki 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 | #134,712 | #149,446 | -10.9% |
| Count | 125 | 110 | -12.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kopacki bearers went from 125 to 110 (-12.0% change). The surname moved down 14,734 positions in the national ranking, going from #134,712 to #149,446.
FAQ
Kopacki surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kopacki?
Name Census estimates that about 126 living Americans carry the surname Kopacki. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,720,273 residents.
How common is Kopacki?
Kopacki ranks #149,446 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 110 people with the surname Kopacki. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (126), 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 Kopacki.
Has Kopacki become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kopacki went from 125 recorded bearers to 110. That is a decrease of 15 (-12.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #134,712 to #149,446.
What does the Census say about the background of Kopacki?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopacki, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Kopacki in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (105 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kopacki appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.5%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%), Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Kopacki (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 Kopacki mean?
Polish habitational surname deriving from a place called Kopaczka or Kopaczew. 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 Kopacki (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 share the surname Kopacki?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.