2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Polny
A surname originating from Poland, possibly derived from a location name or related to the Polish word "pole" meaning field or open land.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 117 Americans carry the last name Polny. 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 Polny 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 Polny 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 Polny, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (3.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Polny
The surname POLNY is of Polish origin, derived from the word "pole" meaning "field" or "open area". It likely originated in the Middle Ages, when surnames first became common in Poland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the 14th century, when a Stanislaw Polny was mentioned in a document from the city of Krakow in 1387. This suggests the name may have originated in or around the region of Lesser Poland.
In the 16th century, there are records of a Marcin Polny who served as a scribe in the court of King Sigismund I the Old. He was born around 1480 and lived until approximately 1550.
The POLNY name is also found in historical records from the Masovian region of central Poland. A Jan Polny was a landowner near the town of Plock in the late 15th century, according to local archives.
One notable bearer of the name was Stanislaw Polny, a Polish nobleman and military leader who fought against the Swedish invasion during the Deluge in the mid-17th century. He was born around 1620 and died in battle in 1657.
Another prominent figure was Franciszek Polny, a Polish painter and artist who lived in the 18th century. He was known for his religious paintings and frescoes adorning churches in cities like Warsaw and Lublin. Franciszek was born in 1710 and died in 1788.
The name POLNY may also have variants like Polni or Polniak, referring to someone from a particular field or rural area. Overall, it has a long history as a Polish surname connected to the countryside and agricultural roots of many families.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Polny
Among Census respondents with the surname Polny, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (3.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Polny 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 Polny surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.1% · 95
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 2
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Polny
Polny 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
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-10 bearers (-8.8%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 20,451 places
2020
#154,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-1 bearers (-1.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 2,479 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #136,783 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | -10 bearers (-8.8%) | Down 20,451 places |
| 2020 | #154,755 | 102 | 0.03 | -1 bearers (-1.0%) | Up 2,479 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 Polny 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 | #157,234 | #154,755 | 1.6% |
| Count | 103 | 102 | -1.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.03 | 13.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Polny bearers went from 103 to 102 (-1.0% change). The surname moved up 2,479 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #154,755.
FAQ
Polny surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Polny?
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the surname Polny. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,929,524 residents.
How common is Polny?
Polny 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 Polny. 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 Polny.
Has Polny become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Polny went from 103 recorded bearers to 102. That is a decrease of 1 (-1.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #154,755.
What does the Census say about the background of Polny?
Among Census respondents with the surname Polny, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.1%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (3.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). 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 Polny in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.1% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Polny appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.1%), American Indian/Alaska Native (3.9%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%). 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 Polny (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 Polny mean?
A surname originating from Poland, possibly derived from a location name or related to the Polish word "pole" meaning field or open land. 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 Polny (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 Americans have the surname Polny?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.