2000
#148,244
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Pataska
A surname derived from the Polish word "patasz" meaning a slob or slovenly person.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 122 Americans carry the last name Pataska. That puts it at #152,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,809,462 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pataska 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
122
1 in 2,809,462
Census rank
#152,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
106
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 106 bearers of the surname Pataska in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pataska, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and Hispanic (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pataska
The surname Pataska is believed to have originated in Poland, likely around the 16th or 17th century. It is thought to be derived from the Polish word "pataska," which referred to a type of small boat or vessel used for transportation on rivers and lakes. This suggests that the name may have initially been an occupational surname, given to those who worked on or operated these boats.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the baptismal records of the village of Wola, near Warsaw, where a certain Jan Pataska was mentioned in the year 1612. Another early reference comes from the town of Bydgoszcz, where a merchant named Tomasz Pataska was documented in a trade registry in 1639.
In the 18th century, the name appears to have spread to other regions of Poland, as well as parts of what is now Ukraine and Belarus. For instance, a Michał Pataska was recorded as a landowner in the Volhynian region of Ukraine in the 1720s, while a Karolina Pataska was noted as a resident of the town of Pinsk (now in Belarus) in the 1780s.
One notable bearer of the surname was Kazimierz Pataska, a Polish military officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and was awarded the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration, for his bravery in the Battle of Radzyn in 1809. Another was Józef Pataska (1797-1873), a Polish painter and art teacher who was known for his landscapes and portraits.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the name began to appear in various immigrant communities across Europe and the Americas, as those with the surname Pataska sought new opportunities abroad. For example, a Franciszek Pataska was listed as a resident of the Polish community in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the 1890s, while a Stanisław Pataska was recorded as having immigrated to Chicago, United States, in the early 1900s.
Other notable individuals with the surname Pataska include Weronika Pataska (1882-1957), a Polish educator and women's rights activist, and Marek Pataska (born 1956), a contemporary Polish author and journalist.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pataska
Among Census respondents with the surname Pataska, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and Hispanic (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Pataska 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 Pataska surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.2% · 102
- Two or more races1.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pataska
Pataska 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
#148,347
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
+9 bearers (+8.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 103 places
2020
#152,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
-5 bearers (-4.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,992 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #148,244 | 102 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #148,347 | 111 | 0.04 | +9 bearers (+8.8%) | Down 103 places |
| 2020 | #152,339 | 106 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-4.5%) | Down 3,992 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 Pataska 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 | #148,347 | #152,339 | -2.7% |
| Count | 111 | 106 | -4.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pataska bearers went from 111 to 106 (-4.5% change). The surname moved down 3,992 positions in the national ranking, going from #148,347 to #152,339.
FAQ
Pataska surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pataska?
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the surname Pataska. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,809,462 residents.
How common is Pataska?
Pataska ranks #152,339 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 106 people with the surname Pataska. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (122), 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 Pataska.
Has Pataska become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pataska went from 111 recorded bearers to 106. That is a decrease of 5 (-4.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #148,347 to #152,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Pataska?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pataska, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Pataska in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (102 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pataska appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.2%), Two or More Races (1.9%), Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Pataska (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 Pataska mean?
A surname derived from the Polish word "patasz" meaning a slob or slovenly person. 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 Pataska (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 are called Pataska?
Want to know how common the surname Pataska is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.