2010
#139,228
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Polischuk
A surname likely of Ukrainian origin meaning "person from the Polesia region".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 135 Americans carry the last name Polischuk. That puts it at #143,511 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,538,921 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Polischuk 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
135
1 in 2,538,921
Census rank
#143,511
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
118
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 118 bearers of the surname Polischuk in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 143511th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Polischuk, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Polischuk
The surname Polischuk is of Ukrainian origin, dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Ukrainian word "polissya," which refers to the Polesian region, a vast lowland area spanning parts of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. This region was known for its dense forests and marshlands.
The Polischuk name is believed to have originated in the Polesian region, where it was likely used as a descriptive surname to identify individuals who lived in or came from this area. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in church records and census documents from the 16th and 17th centuries in various villages and towns within the Polesian region.
One notable historical figure with the Polischuk surname was Ivan Polischuk, a Cossack leader who fought against Polish rule in the late 17th century. He is mentioned in several historical accounts of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, a major Cossack rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In the 18th century, the Polischuk name appeared in various military records of the Russian Empire, suggesting that individuals with this surname served in the Russian army or Cossack forces. One such individual was Yakov Polischuk, a Cossack officer who participated in the Pugachev Rebellion against Catherine the Great in the 1770s.
During the 19th century, the Polischuk name spread beyond the Polesian region as many Ukrainians migrated to other parts of the Russian Empire and beyond. Semyon Polischuk, a Ukrainian writer and poet born in 1836, was known for his works celebrating Ukrainian folklore and culture.
Another notable figure was Mikhail Polischuk, a Ukrainian-born military officer who served in the Imperial Russian Army during the late 19th century. He was awarded various honors for his service in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.
In the early 20th century, the Polischuk name continued to appear in various contexts, including the arts and academia. Andrei Polischuk, born in 1892, was a renowned Ukrainian painter and sculptor whose works were heavily influenced by folk art and traditions.
These examples illustrate the rich history and geographical spread of the Polischuk surname, originating from the Polesian region of Ukraine and carried by individuals who played significant roles in various aspects of Ukrainian and Russian history over several centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Polischuk
Among Census respondents with the surname Polischuk, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Polischuk 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 Polischuk surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.0% · 105
- Two or more races8.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Polischuk
Polischuk appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#143,511
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
-2 bearers (-1.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 4,283 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #139,228 | 120 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #143,511 | 118 | 0.04 | -2 bearers (-1.7%) | Down 4,283 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 Polischuk 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 | #139,228 | #143,511 | -3.1% |
| Count | 120 | 118 | -1.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -1.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Polischuk bearers went from 120 to 118 (-1.7% change). The surname moved down 4,283 positions in the national ranking, going from #139,228 to #143,511.
FAQ
Polischuk surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Polischuk?
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the surname Polischuk. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,538,921 residents.
How common is Polischuk?
Polischuk ranks #143,511 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 118 people with the surname Polischuk. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (135), 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 Polischuk.
Has Polischuk become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Polischuk went from 120 recorded bearers to 118. That is a decrease of 2 (-1.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #139,228 to #143,511.
What does the Census say about the background of Polischuk?
Among Census respondents with the surname Polischuk, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Polischuk in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.0% (105 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Polischuk appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.0%), Two or More Races (8.5%), Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Polischuk (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 Polischuk mean?
A surname likely of Ukrainian origin meaning "person from the Polesia region". 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 Polischuk (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 Americans have the surname Polischuk?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.