2000
#142,819
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Polacco
A surname originating from the Polish region or denoting a person of Polish ancestry.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 117 Americans carry the last name Polacco. That puts it at #154,755 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,929,524 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Polacco 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
117
1 in 2,929,524
Census rank
#154,755
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
102
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 102 bearers of the surname Polacco in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154755th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Polacco, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%) and Hispanic (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Polacco
The surname Polacco is an Italian name with origins tracing back to the medieval era. It is a locational surname derived from the name of the town of Pollacco, located in the province of Bari in the Apulia region of southern Italy. The name Pollacco itself comes from the Latin word "Apuli" or "Apulicus," which referred to the ancient Apulian people who inhabited this area.
Historical records show that the Polacco family was established in the town of Pollacco as early as the 13th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the "Codice Diplomatico Barese," a collection of medieval documents from the city of Bari, where a certain "Riccardo Polacco" is mentioned in a document dated 1276.
In the 14th century, there are records of a prominent noble family with the surname Polacco residing in the town of Monopoli, also in the Apulia region. This family is believed to have descended from the original Polacco lineage from Pollacco.
One notable figure with the surname Polacco was Francesco Polacco, a 16th-century Italian painter and architect born in Monopoli around 1540. He is best known for his work on the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.
Another significant individual was Vittorio Polacco, an Italian lawyer and politician born in Venice in 1858. He served as a member of the Italian Parliament and was a prominent advocate for workers' rights.
In the realm of literature, we have Goffredo Polacco, an Italian poet and writer born in Trieste in 1903. He is renowned for his contributions to the Italian literary movement known as "Ermetismo."
Giorgio Polacco, born in Legnano, Italy, in 1889, was a notable Italian physician and researcher who made significant contributions to the field of hematology and the study of blood disorders.
Lastly, Arrigo Polacco, born in Rome in 1906, was an Italian actor and director who had a successful career in both Italian and American cinema during the mid-20th century.
While the name Polacco is most commonly found in Italy, particularly in the southern regions, it has also spread to other parts of the world through Italian emigration over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Polacco
Among Census respondents with the surname Polacco, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%) and Hispanic (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Polacco 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 Polacco surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.2% · 91
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Polacco
Polacco 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
+12 bearers (+11.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 2,662 places
2020
#154,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-17 bearers (-14.3%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 14,598 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #142,819 | 107 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #140,157 | 119 | 0.04 | +12 bearers (+11.2%) | Up 2,662 places |
| 2020 | #154,755 | 102 | 0.03 | -17 bearers (-14.3%) | Down 14,598 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 Polacco 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 | #154,755 | -10.4% |
| Count | 119 | 102 | -14.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -14.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Polacco bearers went from 119 to 102 (-14.3% change). The surname moved down 14,598 positions in the national ranking, going from #140,157 to #154,755.
FAQ
Polacco surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Polacco?
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the surname Polacco. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,929,524 residents.
How common is Polacco?
Polacco ranks #154,755 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 102 people with the surname Polacco. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (117), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Polacco.
Has Polacco become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Polacco went from 119 recorded bearers to 102. That is a decrease of 17 (-14.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #140,157 to #154,755.
What does the Census say about the background of Polacco?
Among Census respondents with the surname Polacco, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Polacco in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (91 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Polacco appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.2%), Asian/Pacific Islander (4.9%), Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Polacco (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 Polacco mean?
A surname originating from the Polish region or denoting a person of Polish ancestry. 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 Polacco (0.03 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 have the last name Polacco?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Polacco is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.