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

Laz, 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 Laz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Laz in America

Laz is the 85357th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Laz surname appeared 219 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 Laz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Laz 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 Laz

The surname Laz has its origins in Eastern Europe, specifically in modern-day Poland and Ukraine. It is believed to have emerged in the 14th or 15th century as a variant of the Polish surname Laza, which was derived from the personal name Lazarz, a Slavic form of the biblical name Lazarus.

Historically, the name Laz was prevalent in the regions of Galicia and Volhynia, areas that were once part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in parish records and tax rolls from these regions, dating back to the 16th century.

One notable historical reference to the name Laz can be found in the Metryka Koronna, a collection of official documents from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a document dated 1564, a certain Jan Laz is mentioned as a landowner in the town of Żółkiew, located in present-day western Ukraine.

Another early reference to the name comes from the Zaporizhian Sich, a semi-autonomous Cossack territory located in what is now southern Ukraine. In the 17th century, a Cossack named Petro Laz is recorded as having participated in military campaigns against the Ottoman Empire.

Throughout history, several individuals bearing the surname Laz have achieved notable recognition. One such individual was Karol Laz (1808-1878), a Polish painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Another was Kazimierz Laz (1870-1941), a Polish engineer and inventor who patented a method for producing synthetic rubber.

In the field of literature, Jan Laz (1910-1987) was a Polish poet and writer whose works explored themes of rural life and the experience of World War II. More recently, Andrzej Laz (1943-2018) was a prominent Polish film director known for his critically acclaimed films exploring social and political issues.

It's worth noting that the surname Laz has also undergone various spelling variations over time, such as Laza, Lazas, and Lazarz, reflecting the influence of regional dialects and language changes.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Laz

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

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 Laz 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 Laz 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 Laz was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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