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

Motko, 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 Motko surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Motko in America

Motko is the 158432nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Motko surname appeared 102 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Motko.

We can also compare 2010 data for Motko 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 Motko

The surname Motko has its origins in the Eastern European region, specifically in the area now known as Poland and Belarus. It is believed to have emerged in the 14th or 15th century, derived from the Slavic root word "motka," which means "ball" or "bundle." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a person's occupation, such as a weaver or a tailor who worked with balls or bundles of thread or yarn.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Motko surname can be found in the Metrica Regni Poloniae, a collection of official documents from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth dating back to the late 15th century. In this record, a Motko family is mentioned as residing in the town of Grodno, now located in modern-day Belarus.

In the 16th century, the Motko name appeared in several historical documents from the region, including tax records and land registries. One notable figure from this period was Jan Motko, a merchant and landowner who lived in the town of Brest (now in Belarus) around 1550. His name is recorded in a document detailing a dispute over a property transaction.

As the surname spread across Eastern Europe, various spellings emerged, such as Motko, Motkov, and Motkevich. These variations likely reflected regional dialects and linguistic influences from neighboring cultures.

In the 18th century, a prominent individual bearing the Motko surname was Andrei Motko, a military officer who served in the Russian Imperial Army during the reign of Catherine the Great. He participated in several campaigns against the Ottoman Empire and was recognized for his bravery and leadership on the battlefield.

Another notable figure was Kazimierz Motko, a Polish scholar and educator who lived in the late 19th century (1842-1912). He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Krakow and authored several influential works on ethics and moral philosophy.

In the 20th century, the Motko surname gained further recognition with the achievements of Yuri Motko, a Soviet chess grandmaster who was born in 1925 in what is now Belarus. He won numerous tournaments and represented the Soviet Union in international competitions, becoming one of the top players of his era.

The name Motko has also been linked to various place names in the region, such as the village of Motkovo in Russia and the town of Motkovice in the Czech Republic, suggesting that the surname may have influenced or been influenced by these geographical locations over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Motko

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

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 Motko 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 Motko 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 Motko was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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