2010
#159,712
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 101
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Luckau
A locational surname derived from a place in Brandenburg, Germany.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Luckau. That puts it at #153,590 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,880,289 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Luckau 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
119
1 in 2,880,289
Census rank
#153,590
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
104
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 104 bearers of the surname Luckau in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 153590th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Luckau, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Luckau
The surname "LUCKAU" is of German origin, originating from the town of Luckau in the Dahme-Spreewald district of Brandenburg, Germany. The name is believed to have derived from the Slavic word "luka," meaning "meadow" or "pasture," suggesting that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near or worked on a meadow or pasture.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 13th century in various historical records from the region. One notable mention is found in the Meissner Deutsches Städtebuch, a record of German towns and cities, which references the town of Luckau in 1291.
In the 16th century, the name Luckau appeared in the records of the University of Wittenberg, where a student named Petrus Luckau was enrolled in 1550. This suggests that the name had already spread beyond the immediate vicinity of the town and was being used as a surname by this time.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Hans Luckau, a German painter and printmaker active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. His woodcut prints and engravings, particularly those depicting religious scenes, were highly regarded during his lifetime.
Another notable figure with the surname Luckau was Johann Luckau (1622-1681), a German theologian and author who served as a pastor in the town of Bernau near Berlin. He wrote several influential works on theology and church doctrine.
In the 19th century, the name Luckau gained some prominence through the work of Friedrich Luckau (1822-1872), a German architect and urban planner who played a significant role in the development of several cities in Prussia, including Berlin and Potsdam.
Another individual of note was Alma Luckau (1882-1944), a German artist and painter who was part of the Berlin Secession movement in the early 20th century. Her paintings, which often depicted scenes of everyday life, were widely exhibited during her lifetime.
Throughout its history, the surname Luckau has remained relatively uncommon outside of Germany, with its highest concentration still found in the Brandenburg region where it originated.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Luckau
Among Census respondents with the surname Luckau, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Luckau 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 Luckau surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.6% · 88
- Two or more races5.8% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 3
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Luckau
Luckau appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
+3 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 6,122 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #159,712 | 101 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | +3 bearers (+3.0%) | Up 6,122 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 Luckau 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 | #159,712 | #153,590 | 3.8% |
| Count | 101 | 104 | 3.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.03 | 16.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Luckau bearers went from 101 to 104 (+3.0% change). The surname moved up 6,122 positions in the national ranking, going from #159,712 to #153,590.
FAQ
Luckau surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Luckau?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Luckau. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Luckau?
Luckau ranks #153,590 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 104 people with the surname Luckau. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (119), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Luckau.
Has Luckau become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Luckau went from 101 recorded bearers to 104. That is an increase of 3 (+3.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #159,712 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Luckau?
Among Census respondents with the surname Luckau, the largest self-reported group is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Luckau in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (88 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Luckau appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (84.6%), Two or More Races (5.8%), Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Luckau (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 Luckau mean?
A locational surname derived from a place in Brandenburg, Germany. 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 Luckau (0.03 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 last name Luckau?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans have the surname Luckau at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.