2000
#132,259
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Matzko
A surname derived from the Polish "Maciek" or German "Matthias", meaning "gift of God."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Matzko. 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 Matzko 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 Matzko 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 Matzko, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%) and Hispanic (5.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Matzko
The surname Matzko originated in the Silesia region of Poland, which borders Germany and the Czech Republic. The name dates back to the 16th century and is believed to be derived from the Polish word "matka," meaning mother. This suggests that the name may have originally been a patronymic surname, indicating a familial relationship to one's mother.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Matzko surname can be found in the Akta Grodzkie, a collection of court records from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, dating back to the late 16th century. These records mention a Jan Matzko, a landowner from the town of Bielsko-Biała in southern Poland.
In the 17th century, the Matzko name appears in church records from the town of Opole, located in the Opole Voivodeship of southwestern Poland. These records document the baptisms, marriages, and deaths of several Matzko families during this time period.
The Matzko surname has also been associated with the German-speaking regions of Silesia, which were historically part of Prussia and later Germany. In the 19th century, several Matzko families can be found in census records from the cities of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) and Oppeln (now Opole, Poland).
One notable individual with the Matzko surname was Jan Matzko (1892-1972), a Polish artist and painter who specialized in landscapes and portraits. He was born in the town of Bielsko-Biała and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow.
Another prominent figure with the Matzko name was Kazimierz Matzko (1907-1983), a Polish engineer and inventor who held numerous patents for his work in the field of mechanical engineering. He was born in the town of Radomsko and later lived and worked in Warsaw.
In the early 20th century, the Matzko surname can also be found in records from the United States, where many Polish and German immigrants settled. For example, a Joseph Matzko (1881-1958) was born in the town of Opava, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of the Czech Republic), and later emigrated to Chicago, where he worked as a tailor.
Another individual of note was Maria Matzko (1917-2008), a Polish-American writer and educator who was born in the town of Stryj, in what was then the Second Polish Republic (now part of Ukraine). She later immigrated to the United States and taught Polish language and literature at various universities.
Finally, a lesser-known figure was Wladyslaw Matzko (1901-1983), a Polish-born artist and sculptor who lived and worked in Paris, France for much of his career. He was born in the town of Kraków and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow before moving to Paris in the 1920s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Matzko
Among Census respondents with the surname Matzko, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%) and Hispanic (5.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Matzko 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 Matzko surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.7% · 87
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.7% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 6
- Two or more races2.9% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Matzko
Matzko 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
#145,220
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-4 bearers (-3.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 12,961 places
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
-10 bearers (-8.8%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 8,370 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #132,259 | 118 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | -4 bearers (-3.4%) | Down 12,961 places |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | -10 bearers (-8.8%) | Down 8,370 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 Matzko 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 | #145,220 | #153,590 | -5.8% |
| Count | 114 | 104 | -8.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Matzko bearers went from 114 to 104 (-8.8% change). The surname moved down 8,370 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #153,590.
FAQ
Matzko surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Matzko?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Matzko. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Matzko?
Matzko 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 Matzko. 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 Matzko.
Has Matzko become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Matzko went from 114 recorded bearers to 104. That is a decrease of 10 (-8.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Matzko?
Among Census respondents with the surname Matzko, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Matzko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.7% (87 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Matzko appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%), Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Matzko (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 Matzko mean?
A surname derived from the Polish "Maciek" or German "Matthias", meaning "gift of God." 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 Matzko (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 Americans have the surname Matzko?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.