2000
#14,503
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,884
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.70
Rare Last name
Kulick
A Ukrainian habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "lame" or "crippled" in Ukrainian.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,835 Americans carry the last name Kulick. That puts it at #17,295 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.54 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 186,787 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kulick 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
1.8K
1 in 186,787
Census rank
#17,295
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,600 bearers of the surname Kulick in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.54 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 17295th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kulick, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kulick
The surname Kulick is believed to have originated from the Polish language. It first appeared in the late 16th century in the region of Silesia, which was then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The name is likely derived from the old Polish word "kulka," which means "little ball." This suggests that the surname may have initially referred to a person who worked with balls or spherical objects, possibly a maker of cannon balls or ammunition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kulick can be found in the 1598 tax records of the town of Bytom, where a certain Jan Kulick is listed as a resident. It is also documented that in 1612, a man named Mikołaj Kulick served as a member of the town council in the nearby city of Gliwice.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Kulick began to spread throughout other parts of Poland, as well as into neighboring regions of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Variations in spelling, such as Kulicka, Kulik, and Kuliczka, also emerged during this time.
A notable figure bearing the Kulick surname was Andrzej Kulick (1725-1799), a Polish nobleman and landowner who served as a military officer during the reign of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Another individual of historical significance was Józef Kulick (1808-1879), a Polish-born civil engineer who oversaw the construction of several important railway lines in what is now Ukraine.
In the 19th century, the Kulick surname found its way to the United States and other parts of the world due to the wave of Polish immigration. One of the earliest American Kulicks was Franciszek Kulick (1844-1923), who settled in Chicago and worked as a carpenter. Another noteworthy figure was Stanisław Kulick (1873-1942), a Polish-American author and journalist who wrote extensively about the experiences of Polish immigrants in the United States.
Throughout the 20th century, the Kulick surname continued to be represented in various fields. For example, Władysław Kulick (1910-1988) was a renowned Polish architect who designed several notable buildings in Warsaw, while Zofia Kulick (1919-2006) was a Polish-born artist and sculptor whose works were exhibited in galleries across Europe and the United States.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kulick
Among Census respondents with the surname Kulick, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Kulick 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 Kulick surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 1,493
- Two or more races3.1% · 49
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
- Black or African American0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kulick
Kulick 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
#12,333
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,521
+637 bearers (+33.8%)
Per 100,000 0.85
Rank movement Up 2,170 places
2020
#17,295
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,600
-921 bearers (-36.5%)
Per 100,000 0.54
Rank movement Down 4,962 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,503 | 1,884 | 0.70 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,333 | 2,521 | 0.85 | +637 bearers (+33.8%) | Up 2,170 places |
| 2020 | #17,295 | 1,600 | 0.54 | -921 bearers (-36.5%) | Down 4,962 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 Kulick 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 | #12,333 | #17,295 | -40.2% |
| Count | 2,521 | 1,600 | -36.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.85 | 0.54 | -37.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kulick bearers went from 2,521 to 1,600 (-36.5% change). The surname moved down 4,962 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,333 to #17,295.
FAQ
Kulick surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kulick?
Name Census estimates that about 1,835 living Americans carry the surname Kulick. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 186,787 residents.
How common is Kulick?
Kulick ranks #17,295 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.54 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,600 people with the surname Kulick. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,835), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.54 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.54 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Kulick.
Has Kulick become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kulick went from 2,521 recorded bearers to 1,600. That is a decrease of 921 (-36.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,333 to #17,295.
What does the Census say about the background of Kulick?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kulick, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Kulick in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (1,493 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kulick appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.3%), Two or More Races (3.1%), Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Kulick (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 Kulick mean?
A Ukrainian habitational surname derived from a place name meaning "lame" or "crippled" in Ukrainian. 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 Kulick (0.54 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 Kulick?
See how many people have the surname Kulick on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.