2000
#140,756
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Lemkin
A Polish surname derived from the word "lemka", referring to an ethnic group in southern Poland.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 134 Americans carry the last name Lemkin. That puts it at #144,270 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,557,868 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lemkin 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
134
1 in 2,557,868
Census rank
#144,270
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
117
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 117 bearers of the surname Lemkin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 144270th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lemkin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lemkin
The surname Lemkin is believed to have originated in Poland, where it first appeared in the late 15th century. It is derived from the Polish word "lemki," which refers to a group of ethnic Rusyns who lived in the Carpathian Mountains of southern Poland and western Ukraine. The name may have been given to individuals who lived in or came from these regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lemkin can be found in a Polish census record from 1498, which mentions a man named Jan Lemkin residing in the town of Krosno. Another early reference is in a land registry from 1521, which lists a Piotr Lemkin as a landowner in the village of Żmigród.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Lemkin was primarily concentrated in the regions of Galicia and Lesser Poland, which were then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. During this period, the spelling of the name varied, with variants such as Lemkyn, Lemkina, and Lemkinski appearing in various documents.
One notable individual with the surname Lemkin was Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer and linguist who was born in 1900 and died in 1959. He is best known for coining the term "genocide" and campaigning for the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Another figure of historical significance was Stanislaus Lemkin, a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman who lived in the late 16th century. He was a prominent landowner and served as a member of the Polish Sejm (parliament) in the early 1600s.
Other individuals with the surname Lemkin include Jakub Lemkin, a 17th-century Polish poet and writer who published a collection of religious poetry titled "Pieśni Duchowne" (Spiritual Songs) in 1647, and Szymon Lemkin, a Polish painter and illustrator active in the late 19th century.
Historically, the surname Lemkin was also associated with certain place names in the Carpathian region, such as the village of Lemkówka (now in southeastern Poland) and the town of Lemkiv (now in western Ukraine). These place names likely derived from the same root as the surname and may have influenced its geographic distribution.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lemkin
Among Census respondents with the surname Lemkin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (4.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Lemkin 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 Lemkin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.0% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 7
- Two or more races4.3% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lemkin
Lemkin 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
#138,304
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
+12 bearers (+11.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 2,452 places
2020
#144,270
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
-4 bearers (-3.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 5,966 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #140,756 | 109 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #138,304 | 121 | 0.04 | +12 bearers (+11.0%) | Up 2,452 places |
| 2020 | #144,270 | 117 | 0.04 | -4 bearers (-3.3%) | Down 5,966 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 Lemkin 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 | #138,304 | #144,270 | -4.3% |
| Count | 121 | 117 | -3.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -2.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lemkin bearers went from 121 to 117 (-3.3% change). The surname moved down 5,966 positions in the national ranking, going from #138,304 to #144,270.
FAQ
Lemkin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lemkin?
Name Census estimates that about 134 living Americans carry the surname Lemkin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,557,868 residents.
How common is Lemkin?
Lemkin ranks #144,270 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 117 people with the surname Lemkin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (134), 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 Lemkin.
Has Lemkin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lemkin went from 121 recorded bearers to 117. That is a decrease of 4 (-3.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #138,304 to #144,270.
What does the Census say about the background of Lemkin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lemkin, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Lemkin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.0% (103 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lemkin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.0%), Hispanic (6.0%), Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Lemkin (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 Lemkin mean?
A Polish surname derived from the word "lemka", referring to an ethnic group in southern Poland. 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 Lemkin (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 share the surname Lemkin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.