2000
#121,780
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 131
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Poloski
A surname potentially derived from the Polish adjective "polski" meaning Polish.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Poloski. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Poloski 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
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Poloski in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Poloski, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Poloski
The surname Poloski has its origins in Poland, tracing back to the 11th century. It is derived from the Polish word "pole," meaning field or plain, and the suffix "-ski," indicating a place of origin or residence. This suggests that the name initially referred to individuals who lived in or near a field or open area.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Poloski can be found in the Liber Beneficiorum, a 14th-century ecclesiastical record from the Archdiocese of Gniezno in Poland. This document lists several individuals with variations of the name, such as "Poleski" and "Poloski."
In the 15th century, the name appeared in the Metryka Koronna, a collection of official documents from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Entries in this record show variations like "Polowsky" and "Polovsky," further indicating the name's evolution over time.
During the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Poloski was Jan Poloski (1510-1578), a Polish nobleman and diplomat who served as an envoy to various European courts, including the court of Elizabeth I of England.
Another individual of note was Katarzyna Poloski (1634-1698), a Polish noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the cultural and social life of her region. Her estate in the village of Poloski (now part of modern-day Ukraine) was a center of patronage for artists and scholars.
In the 18th century, the name Poloski appeared in various parish records and land registries across Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. One such record from 1755 mentions a Michał Poloski, a landowner in the region of Podlasie.
Variations of the name Poloski can also be found in historical records from other Slavic regions, such as Poloskyi in Ukraine and Poloski in Belarus, reflecting the spread of the name beyond Poland's borders.
Throughout history, the surname Poloski has been associated with individuals from diverse backgrounds, including nobility, clergy, military officers, and landowners. While some variations in spelling and pronunciation have occurred over time, the name's origins can be traced back to its Polish roots and the connection to fields or open areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Poloski
Among Census respondents with the surname Poloski, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Poloski 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 Poloski surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.4% · 112
- Two or more races1.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Poloski
Poloski 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
#123,064
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 140
+9 bearers (+6.9%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 1,284 places
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-25 bearers (-17.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 22,693 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #121,780 | 131 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #123,064 | 140 | 0.05 | +9 bearers (+6.9%) | Down 1,284 places |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | -25 bearers (-17.9%) | Down 22,693 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 Poloski 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 | #123,064 | #145,757 | -18.4% |
| Count | 140 | 115 | -17.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -23.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Poloski bearers went from 140 to 115 (-17.9% change). The surname moved down 22,693 positions in the national ranking, going from #123,064 to #145,757.
FAQ
Poloski surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Poloski?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Poloski. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Poloski?
Poloski ranks #145,757 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 115 people with the surname Poloski. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), 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 Poloski.
Has Poloski become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Poloski went from 140 recorded bearers to 115. That is a decrease of 25 (-17.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #123,064 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Poloski?
Among Census respondents with the surname Poloski, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Poloski in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.4% (112 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Poloski appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (97.4%), Two or More Races (1.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Poloski (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 Poloski mean?
A surname potentially derived from the Polish adjective "polski" meaning Polish. 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 Poloski (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 people have the last name Poloski?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Poloski is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.