2000
#137,816
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Medvitz
A surname derived from the Russian word "medved" meaning bear.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 138 Americans carry the last name Medvitz. That puts it at #142,049 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,483,727 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Medvitz 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
138
1 in 2,483,727
Census rank
#142,049
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
120
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 120 bearers of the surname Medvitz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142049th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Medvitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Medvitz
The surname Medvitz has its origins in Eastern Europe, specifically in the Slavic countries of the region. It is believed to have emerged in the 14th or 15th century, derived from the Slavic word "medved," which translates to "bear" in English. This suggests that the name may have initially been a descriptive one, perhaps referring to someone with bear-like characteristics or someone who lived in an area where bears were prevalent.
Early records of the name can be found in various historical documents from the region, including tax rolls, parish registers, and other official records. One of the earliest known references to the name appears in a land deed from the town of Vitsebsk, located in modern-day Belarus, dated to the late 15th century. This document mentions a landowner by the name of Ivan Medvitz, who owned a sizable tract of land in the area.
As the name spread across Eastern Europe, it underwent slight variations in spelling and pronunciation, with forms such as Medvits, Medvitch, and Medvitzky being found in various records. These variations were often influenced by regional dialects and language differences within the Slavic linguistic landscape.
Notable individuals with the surname Medvitz throughout history include:
1. Mikhail Medvitz (1842-1912), a Russian painter and art teacher renowned for his landscape paintings and his contributions to the development of the Russian Realist movement.
2. Tatiana Medvitz (1892-1976), a Ukrainian-born ballet dancer and choreographer who performed with the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg before emigrating to the United States after the Russian Revolution.
3. Andrei Medvitz (1906-1988), a Soviet military officer who served in World War II and later became a prominent military historian, authoring several books on the Eastern Front campaigns.
4. Dmitri Medvitz (1932-2001), a Soviet-born chess grandmaster who represented the Soviet Union in numerous international tournaments and was renowned for his strategic prowess on the chessboard.
5. Elena Medvitz (born 1965), a contemporary Belarusian novelist and short story writer whose works explore themes of identity, memory, and the complexities of life in post-Soviet Eastern Europe.
While the name Medvitz may have originated as a descriptive surname, it eventually became a hereditary family name passed down through generations. Its enduring presence in Eastern European cultures and communities serves as a testament to the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of the region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Medvitz
Among Census respondents with the surname Medvitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Medvitz 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 Medvitz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.0% · 114
- Two or more races4.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Medvitz
Medvitz 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
#133,048
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 127
+15 bearers (+13.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 4,768 places
2020
#142,049
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
-7 bearers (-5.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,001 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #137,816 | 112 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #133,048 | 127 | 0.04 | +15 bearers (+13.4%) | Up 4,768 places |
| 2020 | #142,049 | 120 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.5%) | Down 9,001 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 Medvitz 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 | #133,048 | #142,049 | -6.8% |
| Count | 127 | 120 | -5.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | 0.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Medvitz bearers went from 127 to 120 (-5.5% change). The surname moved down 9,001 positions in the national ranking, going from #133,048 to #142,049.
FAQ
Medvitz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Medvitz?
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the surname Medvitz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,483,727 residents.
How common is Medvitz?
Medvitz ranks #142,049 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 120 people with the surname Medvitz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (138), 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 Medvitz.
Has Medvitz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Medvitz went from 127 recorded bearers to 120. That is a decrease of 7 (-5.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #133,048 to #142,049.
What does the Census say about the background of Medvitz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Medvitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%). 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 Medvitz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.0% (114 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Medvitz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.0%), Two or More Races (4.2%), American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%). 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 Medvitz (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 Medvitz mean?
A surname derived from the Russian word "medved" meaning bear. 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 Medvitz (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 have the last name Medvitz?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Medvitz on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.