2000
#12,642
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,246
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.83
Rare Last name
Kulik
A Polish or Ukrainian occupational surname referring to a crippled person or a maker of wooden staffs.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,382 Americans carry the last name Kulik. That puts it at #13,909 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.69 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 143,894 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kulik 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Kulik with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.4K
1 in 143,894
Census rank
#13,909
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,077 bearers of the surname Kulik in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.69 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13909th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kulik, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kulik
The surname Kulik is of Polish origin, dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Polish word "kula," meaning "ball" or "sphere," and likely referred to someone who worked with spherical objects or lived near a round or spherical geographical feature.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Kulik can be found in the Polish town of Krakow in the late 1500s, where it appeared in local tax records and church documents. The name was particularly prevalent in the regions of Lesser Poland and Silesia, but also spread to other parts of the country over time.
One notable early reference to the name Kulik comes from the 17th-century Polish military records, which mention a soldier named Jan Kulik who fought in the Polish-Swedish War of 1626-1629. Another historical figure bearing this surname was Michał Kulik, a prominent merchant and landowner from the city of Lviv (then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) who lived in the late 17th century.
In the 18th century, the name Kulik was recorded in various Polish nobility registers and land ownership records. One such example is Franciszek Kulik, a wealthy landowner from the Podkarpackie region, who was born in 1732 and died in 1801.
As the name spread throughout the 19th century, it also began to appear in other parts of Eastern Europe, particularly in areas with significant Polish communities. One notable bearer of the name from this period was Kazimierz Kulik, a Polish-born mathematician and astronomer who worked in Russia and made important contributions to the study of comets. He was born in 1843 and died in 1911.
Another historical figure with the surname Kulik was Leonid Kulik, a Russian mineralogist and meteorite researcher who lived from 1883 to 1942. He is best known for leading the first expedition to investigate the Tunguska event, a massive explosion in remote Siberia that was caused by a meteorite or comet airburst in 1908.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kulik
Among Census respondents with the surname Kulik, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Kulik 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 Kulik surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 1,916
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 65
- Two or more races3.0% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 15
- Black or African American0.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kulik
Kulik 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
#14,076
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,137
-109 bearers (-4.9%)
Per 100,000 0.72
Rank movement Down 1,434 places
2020
#13,909
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,077
-60 bearers (-2.8%)
Per 100,000 0.69
Rank movement Up 167 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,642 | 2,246 | 0.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,076 | 2,137 | 0.72 | -109 bearers (-4.9%) | Down 1,434 places |
| 2020 | #13,909 | 2,077 | 0.69 | -60 bearers (-2.8%) | Up 167 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 Kulik 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 | #14,076 | #13,909 | 1.2% |
| Count | 2,137 | 2,077 | -2.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.72 | 0.69 | -3.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kulik bearers went from 2,137 to 2,077 (-2.8% change). The surname moved up 167 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,076 to #13,909.
FAQ
Kulik surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kulik?
Name Census estimates that about 2,382 living Americans carry the surname Kulik. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 143,894 residents.
How common is Kulik?
Kulik ranks #13,909 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.69 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 2,077 people with the surname Kulik. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,382), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.69 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.69 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 Kulik.
Has Kulik become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kulik went from 2,137 recorded bearers to 2,077. That is a decrease of 60 (-2.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,076 to #13,909.
What does the Census say about the background of Kulik?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kulik, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Kulik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (1,916 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kulik appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Hispanic (3.1%), Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Kulik (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 Kulik mean?
A Polish or Ukrainian occupational surname referring to a crippled person or a maker of wooden staffs. 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 Kulik (0.69 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 have the surname Kulik?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.