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

Pilch, 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 Pilch surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pilch in America

Pilch is the 23978th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pilch surname appeared 1,052 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 Pilch.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pilch 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 Pilch

The surname PILCH is of Polish origin, deriving from the Polish word 'pilch', meaning a type of thick, woolen coat worn by shepherds and peasants in medieval times. The name likely originated as an occupational surname referring to someone who made or sold these coats.

The earliest recorded instances of the PILCH surname date back to the 15th century in the regions of Silesia and Lesser Poland. It appears in various historical records from this time, such as tax rolls and municipal documents, with spellings like 'Pilch', 'Pylch', and 'Pilech'.

One of the earliest known bearers of the PILCH name was Jan Pilch, a landowner from the village of Kromołów near Opole, who was mentioned in a land registry from 1428. Another early record is of Mikołaj Pilch, a burgher from Kraków, who was listed in the city's municipal records in 1461.

The PILCH surname can also be found in some of the earliest Polish noble family records, such as the Armorial of Polish Nobility (Herbarz Polski) from the 16th century, which mentions the Pilch coat of arms belonging to a noble family from the Sandomierz region.

During the 19th century, several notable individuals with the PILCH surname emerged, including Jerzy Pilch (1802-1880), a Polish writer and poet, and Józef Pilch (1842-1918), a Polish architect who designed several buildings in Kraków and Lviv.

Other individuals of note with the PILCH surname include Tadeusz Pilch (1861-1925), a Polish engineer and inventor who patented several designs for steam engines, and Krzysztof Pilch (1939-2005), a Polish writer and journalist known for his satirical works.

While the PILCH name originated in Poland, it has since spread to other parts of the world through immigration, with bearers of the name found in countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pilch

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

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

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

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