2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Kopetz
A topographic surname derived from a Slavic word meaning "hill" or "mound".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Kopetz. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kopetz 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Kopetz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopetz, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kopetz
The surname Kopetz has its origins in Central Europe, specifically in the regions that are now modern-day Germany and Austria. It is believed to have emerged in the late medieval period, around the 14th or 15th century.
The name Kopetz is thought to be derived from the German word "Kopf," meaning "head." It may have been an occupational surname initially given to people who worked as hatmakers or headwear manufacturers. Alternatively, it could have been a descriptive nickname referring to someone with a distinctive or notable head shape or hairstyle.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kopetz can be found in a 16th-century document from the city of Nuremberg, where a certain Hans Kopetz is mentioned as a member of the local guild of hatmakers. This provides evidence of the name's connection to the hatmaking trade in its early days.
In the 17th century, the surname Kopetz appears in various church records and official documents across German-speaking regions. For example, a Johann Kopetz is listed as a landowner in the town of Bamberg in 1632, while a Maria Kopetz is recorded as being born in Vienna in 1679.
As the name spread and became more widespread, it also took on different spellings and variations, such as Kopetz, Kopetz, and Kopitz. This was common in the era before standardized spelling conventions were established.
One notable bearer of the Kopetz surname was Johann Kopetz, a German composer and organist who lived from 1768 to 1847. He is best known for his church music and organ compositions, which were widely performed and appreciated during his lifetime.
Another individual of note was Theodor Kopetz, an Austrian computer scientist and pioneer in the field of distributed real-time systems. Born in 1940, he made significant contributions to the development of fault-tolerant computer architectures and was widely respected in his field.
In the 19th century, the Kopetz name also gained prominence in the world of literature. Maria Kopetz, a German author born in 1837, wrote several novels and short stories exploring themes of family and societal dynamics in her era.
While the name Kopetz may have originated as an occupational or descriptive surname, it has since become a widely recognized family name across Central Europe and beyond, carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kopetz
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopetz, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Kopetz 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 Kopetz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.5% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 2
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kopetz
Kopetz 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
#154,907
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
-8 bearers (-7.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 18,124 places
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
+7 bearers (+6.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 6,953 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #136,783 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #154,907 | 105 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-7.1%) | Down 18,124 places |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | +7 bearers (+6.7%) | Up 6,953 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 Kopetz 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 | #154,907 | #147,954 | 4.5% |
| Count | 105 | 112 | 6.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kopetz bearers went from 105 to 112 (+6.7% change). The surname moved up 6,953 positions in the national ranking, going from #154,907 to #147,954.
FAQ
Kopetz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kopetz?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Kopetz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Kopetz?
Kopetz ranks #147,954 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 112 people with the surname Kopetz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), 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 Kopetz.
Has Kopetz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kopetz went from 105 recorded bearers to 112. That is an increase of 7 (+6.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #154,907 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Kopetz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kopetz, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.8%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Kopetz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (107 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kopetz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.5%), Hispanic (1.8%), Black (0.9%). 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 Kopetz (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 Kopetz mean?
A topographic surname derived from a Slavic word meaning "hill" or "mound". 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 Kopetz (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 Kopetz?
Want to know how many Americans have the surname Kopetz? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.