2000
#5,882
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,387
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.00
Rare Last name
Piotrowski
A Polish patronymic surname derived from the given name Piotr, meaning "son of Piotr" (Peter).
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,872 Americans carry the last name Piotrowski. That puts it at #6,385 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 58,371 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Piotrowski 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Piotrowski with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
5.9K
1 in 58,371
Census rank
#6,385
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,121 bearers of the surname Piotrowski in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6385th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Piotrowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Piotrowski
The surname Piotrowski has its origins in Poland, tracing back to the medieval period. It is a patronymic surname, derived from the given name Piotr, which is the Polish form of Peter. The suffix "-owski" indicates belonging to or being descended from someone named Piotr.
The name Piotrowski likely emerged as a way to distinguish individuals and families within a community, especially in areas where the name Peter was common. It may have been used to identify someone as the son or descendant of a man named Piotr.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Piotrowski can be found in the Tarnów Land Records from the 15th century, where a certain Jan Piotrowski is mentioned as a landowner in the Tarnów region of Poland.
In the 16th century, the name Piotrowski appeared in various historical documents, including the Metryka Koronna, a collection of records from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. One notable individual was Jan Piotrowski, a Polish nobleman and military commander who fought in the Polish-Muscovite War of 1609-1618.
During the 17th century, the Piotrowski name gained prominence in the Poznań region of western Poland. Jan Piotrowski (1591-1663) was a prominent Catholic priest and theologian who served as the Bishop of Poznań from 1658 until his death.
In the 18th century, a notable figure was Józef Piotrowski (1732-1808), a Polish painter and engraver who is considered one of the pioneers of Polish graphic art. His works can be found in various museums and collections across Poland and Europe.
Another notable individual with the surname Piotrowski was Ignacy Piotrowski (1809-1874), a Polish military officer and engineer who played a significant role in the November Uprising against the Russian Empire in 1830-1831.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Piotrowski name continued to be well-represented in various fields, including academia, politics, and the arts. One example is Józef Piotrowski (1834-1908), a Polish writer and journalist who was an active participant in the Polish independence movement.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Piotrowski
Among Census respondents with the surname Piotrowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Piotrowski 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 Piotrowski surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 4,765
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 150
- Two or more races2.9% · 146
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 35
- Black or African American0.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Piotrowski
Piotrowski 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
#6,384
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,332
-55 bearers (-1.0%)
Per 100,000 1.81
Rank movement Down 502 places
2020
#6,385
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,121
-211 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 1.71
Rank movement Down 1 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,882 | 5,387 | 2.00 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,384 | 5,332 | 1.81 | -55 bearers (-1.0%) | Down 502 places |
| 2020 | #6,385 | 5,121 | 1.71 | -211 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 1 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 Piotrowski 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 | #6,384 | #6,385 | -0.0% |
| Count | 5,332 | 5,121 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.81 | 1.71 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Piotrowski bearers went from 5,332 to 5,121 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 1 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,384 to #6,385.
FAQ
Piotrowski surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Piotrowski?
Name Census estimates that about 5,872 living Americans carry the surname Piotrowski. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 58,371 residents.
How common is Piotrowski?
Piotrowski ranks #6,385 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.71 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,121 people with the surname Piotrowski. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,872), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.71 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Piotrowski.
Has Piotrowski become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Piotrowski went from 5,332 recorded bearers to 5,121. That is a decrease of 211 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,384 to #6,385.
What does the Census say about the background of Piotrowski?
Among Census respondents with the surname Piotrowski, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Piotrowski in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (4,765 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Piotrowski appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Hispanic (2.9%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Piotrowski (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 Piotrowski mean?
A Polish patronymic surname derived from the given name Piotr, meaning "son of Piotr" (Peter). 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 Piotrowski (1.71 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 Piotrowski?
See how many people have the last name Piotrowski on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.