2000
#147,095
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Pachta
An Arabic surname originating from the Persian word "pacht" meaning cotton or cotton cloth.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Pachta. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pachta 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.
Bearers in the US
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Pachta in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pachta, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pachta
The surname Pachta originated in the region of Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic, during the late medieval period. It is believed to derive from the Old Czech word "pacht," meaning a lease or a tenant farmer. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to an individual who worked as a tenant on leased land.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pachta can be found in the Bohemian Land Tables, a series of records documenting legal transactions in the Kingdom of Bohemia, dating back to the 14th century. The name is also found in various parish records and census documents from the 16th and 17th centuries in the regions of Bohemia and Moravia.
In the 15th century, a notable figure bearing the surname Pachta was Jan Pachta, a prominent Bohemian nobleman and landowner who served as a member of the Bohemian Diet (parliament) during the reign of King George of Podebrady. Another early bearer of the name was Mikuláš Pachta, a Catholic priest and chronicler who lived in the town of Tachov in the late 16th century.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Pachta surname appeared in various records across the Bohemian lands, with some individuals achieving notable positions. For instance, Václav Pachta (1618-1682) was a respected lawyer and jurist who served as a judge in the Bohemian Appellate Court.
As the name spread beyond its region of origin, it also acquired variations in spelling, such as Pachtek, Pachtik, and Pachtl. One notable bearer of the Pachtl variant was Franz Pachtl (1798-1884), an Austrian politician and lawyer who served as the Mayor of Vienna in the mid-19th century.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, individuals with the surname Pachta continued to make their mark in various fields. For example, Jaroslav Pachta (1868-1935) was a prominent Czech architect who designed several notable buildings in Prague, while Josef Pachta (1899-1973) was a respected Czech painter and graphic artist known for his landscape and still-life works.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pachta
Among Census respondents with the surname Pachta, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Pachta bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 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 Pachta surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pachta
Pachta appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#140,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
+16 bearers (+15.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 6,938 places
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-4 bearers (-3.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 5,600 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #147,095 | 103 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #140,157 | 119 | 0.04 | +16 bearers (+15.5%) | Up 6,938 places |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | -4 bearers (-3.4%) | Down 5,600 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Pachta surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #140,157 | #145,757 | -4.0% |
| Count | 119 | 115 | -3.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pachta bearers went from 119 to 115 (-3.4% change). The surname moved down 5,600 positions in the national ranking, going from #140,157 to #145,757.
FAQ
Pachta surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pachta?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Pachta. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Pachta?
Pachta ranks #145,757 in the 2020 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 2020 Census file counted 115 people with the surname Pachta. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), 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 Pachta.
Has Pachta become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pachta went from 119 recorded bearers to 115. That is a decrease of 4 (-3.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #140,157 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Pachta?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pachta, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%). These figures come from the 2020 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 Pachta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (107 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pachta appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Hispanic (4.3%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Pachta (2000, 2010, 2020).
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 Pachta mean?
An Arabic surname originating from the Persian word "pacht" meaning cotton or cotton cloth. 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 2020 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 Pachta (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 common is the surname Pachta?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Pachta at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.