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

Niemiec, 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 Niemiec surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Niemiec in America

Niemiec is the 13300th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Niemiec surname appeared 2,293 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 Niemiec.

We can also compare 2010 data for Niemiec 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 Niemiec

The surname NIEMIEC is of Polish origin, derived from the word "niemiec" which means "a person who cannot speak" or "a foreigner". It likely originated in the 12th or 13th century when it was used to refer to people who did not speak the local Polish language or dialect.

The name can be traced back to various regions within modern-day Poland, including the areas around Krakow, Wroclaw, and Poznan. It is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive term or nickname before eventually becoming an inherited surname.

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the surname NIEMIEC can be found in medieval Polish documents and records from the 14th and 15th centuries. For example, a person named Jan Niemiec is mentioned in a 1397 record from the town of Lublin.

In the 16th century, the name appears in the Polish Armorial Compendium, a collection of coats of arms and heraldic descriptions, indicating that some families bearing the NIEMIEC surname had achieved a level of nobility or distinction at that time.

One notable historical figure with the surname NIEMIEC was Jan Niemiec (1506-1572), a Polish lawyer and author who served as a judge in the city of Krakow. Another was Marcin Niemiec (1550-1612), a Polish theologian and writer who published works on religious topics.

In the 18th century, a man named Maciej Niemiec (1734-1804) was a prominent Polish painter and artist known for his religious works and portraits. Around the same time, Michał Niemiec (1751-1818) was a Polish military officer who fought in the Kościuszko Uprising against the Russian Empire.

Moving into the 19th century, Józef Niemiec (1819-1897) was a Polish writer and journalist who contributed to various publications and advocated for Polish independence from foreign rule.

While the NIEMIEC surname has its roots in Poland, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and immigration. However, its origins can be traced back to the historical regions of modern-day Poland, where it emerged as a descriptive term for those who could not speak the local language or dialect.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Niemiec

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!