Find out how popular the last name Kotas is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Kotas.

Kotas, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Kotas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kotas in America

Kotas is the 35096th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kotas surname appeared 642 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kotas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kotas to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Kotas

The surname Kotas has its origins in Poland, emerging in the late Middle Ages around the 14th century. It is derived from the Polish word "kot," meaning "cat," and likely referred to an occupation or personal characteristic associated with cats.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Kotas surname can be found in the Akta Grodzkie, a collection of court records from medieval Poland. In these records, dating back to the 15th century, there are mentions of individuals with the surname Kotas residing in various regions of the country.

During the Renaissance period, the Kotas surname gained popularity among the Polish nobility. Notable individuals bearing this name include Jan Kotas, a prominent military commander who fought in the Polish-Lithuanian wars against the Teutonic Knights in the late 15th century.

In the 17th century, a branch of the Kotas family settled in the village of Kotasówka, located in the present-day Subcarpathian Voivodeship of southeastern Poland. This village likely took its name from the Kotas family, as it was a common practice for Polish settlements to be named after their founding families.

One of the most famous bearers of the Kotas surname was Franciszek Kotas (1778-1848), a renowned Polish painter and engraver. His works, which often depicted religious and historical themes, are considered significant contributions to the Polish Romantic art movement.

Another notable figure was Józef Kotas (1856-1932), a Polish architect and engineer. He was responsible for designing several prestigious buildings in Warsaw, including the neoclassical Palace of the Staszic Palace, which served as the headquarters of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

In the late 19th century, the Kotas surname spread beyond Poland's borders due to emigration. Many Kotas families settled in neighboring countries, such as Germany and Ukraine, as well as in the United States and Canada, where they sought better economic opportunities.

Over the centuries, the Kotas surname has undergone various spelling variations, including Kotasz, Kotaś, and Kotasiewicz. These variations often reflected regional dialects or linguistic adaptations as the name traveled across different regions and countries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kotas

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Kotas.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Kotas was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Kotas has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Kotas was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Kotas, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!