Modjeska
A surname derived from the Polish word "modjeska," meaning "poplar tree."
According to the 2000 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 137 Americans carry the last name Modjeska. That puts it at #149,328 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,501,856 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Modjeska 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.
Modjeska appeared in the 2000 Census surname file but was not included in the published 2020 file. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames with at least 100 recorded bearers, so this usually means the name fell below that threshold.
Bearers in the US
137
1 in 2,501,856
Census rank
#149,328
2000 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
101
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 101 bearers of the surname Modjeska in its 2000 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 149328th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Modjeska, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Two or More Races (5.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Modjeska
The surname Modjeska finds its roots in Poland, stemming from the period of the Eastern European naming conventions. The name likely originated in the regions of Lesser Poland or Galicia, which were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at various points in history. The name is a derivative or a variant of the Polish name Modzelewski, reflecting common practices of surname adaptation.
The root "Modzel" might derive from an old Polish word that refers to a callus or hard area of skin, perhaps indicating an ancestor who was known for physical labor or rugged characteristics. Modjeska can also be traced back to old Polish spellings and geographical references, pointing to people from particular locales known as Modzel or Modzelewo, small villages in Poland.
Historical references to the name Modjeska appear in various Polish records and directories from the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the most noteworthy bearers of the surname is Helena Modjeska (1840-1909), born Jadwiga Benda. She was a renowned Polish actress who gained international fame in the United States and Britain, bringing attention to the name on a global scale. Her remarkable career brought Polish culture into prominence in theatrical circles worldwide.
Another notable individual was Joseph Modjeska, who held the name in distinction due to his involvement in various 19th-century industrial enterprises in Poland. Additionally, a reference can be found to a Maria Modjeska, who was known in local Polish community records during the late 1700s, playing a significant role in regional folk traditions.
Further back, documents from the mid-18th century include mentions of a Piotr Modjeska, a landowner in the Lesser Poland region, indicating that the name had been well-established and attached to land and economic activities in the area. During the same era, Anna Modjeska was recorded as participating in local church archives, suggesting the family's involvement in religious and community affairs.
The surname Modjeska also intersects with geographical names, with locations such as Modzele and Modzelki hinting at the property or estates once managed or occupied by people carrying this name. Despite the variations in spelling and slight regional adaptations, the name Modjeska has carried a consistent presence across time, maintaining a link to its Polish origins and evolving through its distinguished bearers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Modjeska
Among Census respondents with the surname Modjeska, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Two or More Races (5.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Modjeska bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2000 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 Modjeska surname at the time of the 2000 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.2%
- Hispanic or Latino6.9%
- Two or more races5.9%
- Unknown or suppressed4.0%
FAQ
Modjeska surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Modjeska?
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the surname Modjeska. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,501,856 residents.
How common is Modjeska?
Modjeska ranks #149,328 in the 2000 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 2000 Census file counted 101 people with the surname Modjeska. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (137), 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 Modjeska.
Has Modjeska become more or less common over time?
Modjeska appears here with 2000 Census data. When additional surname-file years are available for this name, Name Census uses them to show longer-term movement in rank and bearer count.
What does the Census say about the background of Modjeska?
Among Census respondents with the surname Modjeska, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). These figures come from the 2000 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 Modjeska in the 2000 Census, accounting for 83.2%.
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Modjeska appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2000 file are White (83.2%), Hispanic (6.9%), Two or More Races (5.9%).
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Not necessarily. Modjeska appears here with 2000 Census data, while the latest surname file loaded on Name Census is 2020. When a surname drops below the Census publication threshold, older rows can still be kept for historical reference even if the name no longer appears in the newest file.
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 Modjeska mean?
A surname derived from the Polish word "modjeska," meaning "poplar tree." 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 2000 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 Modjeska (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 surname Modjeska?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.