Find out how popular the last name Michalak is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Michalak.

Michalak, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Michalak surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Michalak in America

Michalak is the 8320th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Michalak surname appeared 3,983 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Michalak.

We can also compare 2010 data for Michalak to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Michalak

The surname Michalak is of Polish origin and derives from the given name Michal, a Polish version of the Hebrew name Michael. The name Michael means "who is like God" in Hebrew. The Polish surname Michalak is a patronymic form, meaning "son of Michal."

The name Michalak first appeared in records in Poland during the medieval period. It was commonly found in areas such as Greater Poland, Pomerania, and Silesia. The earliest recorded spelling variations of the name include Michalaik, Michalik, and Michalek.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Michalak can be found in the Liber Beneficiorum, a 15th-century document containing records of benefices in the Diocese of Krakow. The name Nicolaus Michalak is mentioned in this text, dated around 1470.

During the 16th century, the surname Michalak appeared in various Polish chronicles and historical records. For example, in the Akta Grodzkie i Ziemskie, a collection of court records from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, there are references to individuals with the surname Michalak from the late 1500s.

One notable bearer of the name Michalak was Jan Michalak, a Polish priest and historian who lived from 1613 to 1689. He authored several works on the history of Poland and the Polish Church.

Another individual with the surname Michalak was Jozef Michalak, a Polish painter and illustrator who lived from 1835 to 1906. He is known for his romantic landscape paintings and illustrations for Polish literary works.

In the 19th century, the surname Michalak was also found in various place names across Poland, such as the village of Michalaki in the Masovian Voivodeship.

Other notable bearers of the surname Michalak include Stanislaw Michalak (1865-1949), a Polish politician and member of the Sejm, and Michal Michalak (1925-2000), a Polish actor and director.

While the surname Michalak has its roots in Poland, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to Polish emigration and diaspora communities.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Michalak

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Michalak.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Michalak was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Michalak has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Michalak was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Michalak, please contact us.

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