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

Olszak, 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 Olszak surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Olszak in America

Olszak is the 78821st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Olszak surname appeared 242 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 Olszak.

We can also compare 2010 data for Olszak 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 Olszak

The surname Olszak is of Polish origin, derived from the Polish word "olsza" which means "alder tree." It likely originated in the medieval period, potentially as a descriptive surname for someone who lived near alder trees or worked with alder wood.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Olszak can be found in the Tarnów land records from the early 15th century, where a person named Jan Olszak is mentioned. This suggests that the name was well-established in the region of Małopolska (Lesser Poland) by that time.

In the 16th century, the Olszak surname appears in various records from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. For instance, a nobleman named Stanisław Olszak is listed in the register of the Lublin Voivodeship from the year 1564.

Interestingly, the surname Olszak has also been found in historical documents from other Slavic regions, such as the Czech lands. This may indicate that the name had spread beyond its Polish roots or had parallel origins in other Slavic languages.

One notable individual with the surname Olszak was Michał Olszak, a Polish military officer who fought in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919-1921. He was born in 1888 and later became a colonel in the Polish Army.

Another figure of note was Jan Olszak, a Polish painter and graphic artist who lived from 1919 to 1965. He is particularly known for his landscapes and portraits depicting life in rural Poland.

In the 19th century, a famous bearer of the surname was Józef Olszak, a Polish writer and journalist who was born in 1833. He was an advocate for Polish independence and contributed to various literary and political publications of the time.

Franciszek Olszak, born in 1824, was a Polish engineer and inventor who made significant contributions to the development of early photography techniques. He is credited with improving the collodion process and introducing new methods for printing photographs.

Furthermore, the Olszak surname can be found in various place names across Poland, such as the village of Olszaki in the Masovian Voivodeship, suggesting a connection between the surname and certain geographical locations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Olszak

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Olszak, 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!