2000
#31,235
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 702
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.26
Very Rare Last name
Litvak
A surname referring to someone from Lithuania.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 945 Americans carry the last name Litvak. That puts it at #30,365 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.28 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 362,703 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Litvak 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
945
1 in 362,703
Census rank
#30,365
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
824
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 824 bearers of the surname Litvak in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.28 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 30365th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Litvak, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Litvak
The surname Litvak is of Eastern European Jewish origin, specifically from the historical region of Lithuania. It likely emerged in the 16th or 17th century, derived from the Yiddish word "Litvak," meaning a person from Lithuania or the surrounding areas.
The earliest known record of the Litvak surname dates back to the late 17th century, appearing in a document from the city of Vilnius, which was then part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The name was initially spelled in various ways, such as Litwak, Littwak, or Litwakowski, reflecting the different regional dialects and scribal practices of the time.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Litvak surname became more widespread among Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, particularly in Lithuania, Belarus, and parts of modern-day Poland and Ukraine. It was often associated with the distinct cultural and religious traditions of the Lithuanian Jewish community, known as the Litvak Jewish tradition.
One notable historical figure with the Litvak surname was Rabbi Eliyahu Kremer Litvak (1550-1626), a prominent Talmudic scholar and author from the city of Grodno, now in Belarus. Another famous Litvak was Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (1817-1896), a renowned Torah scholar and leader of the Kovno Kollel, an influential Talmudic academy in Kaunas, Lithuania.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Litvaks emigrated from Eastern Europe to escape persecution and economic hardship, settling in various parts of the United States, Canada, South Africa, and other countries. Notable Litvaks from this period include:
1. Louis D. Litvak (1861-1935), a Lithuanian-born American businessman and philanthropist.
2. Hillel Litvak (1859-1938), a prominent Litvak rabbi and educator who founded the Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland, Ohio.
3. Solomon Litvak (1874-1942), a Lithuanian-born American playwright and Yiddish theater director.
The Litvak surname also has connections to various place names in Lithuania and surrounding regions, such as Litvakai, a village in the Vilnius region, and Litvinka, a town in Belarus. These place names likely derived from the same linguistic root as the surname, indicating a person or community from the region of Lithuania.
Throughout history, the Litvak surname has been associated with the rich cultural heritage and intellectual traditions of the Lithuanian Jewish community, reflecting their significant contributions to Jewish scholarship, literature, and community life.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Litvak
Among Census respondents with the surname Litvak, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Litvak 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 Litvak surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.5% · 762
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 26
- Two or more races3.0% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 9
- Black or African American0.2% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Litvak
Litvak 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
#28,408
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 840
+138 bearers (+19.7%)
Per 100,000 0.28
Rank movement Up 2,827 places
2020
#30,365
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 824
-16 bearers (-1.9%)
Per 100,000 0.28
Rank movement Down 1,957 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #31,235 | 702 | 0.26 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #28,408 | 840 | 0.28 | +138 bearers (+19.7%) | Up 2,827 places |
| 2020 | #30,365 | 824 | 0.28 | -16 bearers (-1.9%) | Down 1,957 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 Litvak 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 | #28,408 | #30,365 | -6.9% |
| Count | 840 | 824 | -1.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.28 | 0.28 | -1.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Litvak bearers went from 840 to 824 (-1.9% change). The surname moved down 1,957 positions in the national ranking, going from #28,408 to #30,365.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Litvak
FAQ
Litvak surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Litvak?
Name Census estimates that about 945 living Americans carry the surname Litvak. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 362,703 residents.
How common is Litvak?
Litvak ranks #30,365 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.28 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 824 people with the surname Litvak. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (945), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.28 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.28 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 Litvak.
Has Litvak become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Litvak went from 840 recorded bearers to 824. That is a decrease of 16 (-1.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #28,408 to #30,365.
What does the Census say about the background of Litvak?
Among Census respondents with the surname Litvak, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) 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 Litvak in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.5% (762 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Litvak appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.5%), Hispanic (3.2%), 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 Litvak (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 Litvak mean?
A surname referring to someone from Lithuania. 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 Litvak (0.28 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 Litvak?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Litvak is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.