Find out how popular the last name Popoff is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Popoff.

Popoff, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Popoff surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Popoff in America

Popoff is the 36379th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Popoff surname appeared 615 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Popoff.

We can also compare 2010 data for Popoff to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Popoff

The surname Popoff has its origins in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia and Bulgaria. It is derived from the Slavic word "pop," which means "priest" or "clergyman." The name likely emerged around the 12th or 13th century, when surnames began to take shape in this region.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Popoff surname can be found in the Veliky Novgorod Chronicles, which date back to the 14th century. These chronicles mention a person named Vasily Popoff, who was a prominent merchant and landowner in the city of Novgorod.

As the name suggests, the Popoff family may have had ties to the Orthodox Church or clergy in their early history. It's possible that the first bearers of this surname were sons or descendants of priests or clergymen.

In the 16th century, the name Popoff appears in several historical documents from the Muscovite Tsardom, including tax records and land ownership records. One notable figure from this era was Ivan Popoff, a wealthy merchant who traded extensively with European countries.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Popoff surname spread across the Russian Empire and into other Slavic regions, such as Bulgaria and Serbia. In Bulgaria, the name is sometimes spelled as Popov or Popović, reflecting the linguistic variations across different Slavic languages.

One of the most famous individuals with the Popoff surname was Gavril Popoff (1904-1977), a Bulgarian revolutionary and political activist who played a significant role in the communist movement in Bulgaria.

Another notable figure was Sergei Popoff (1892-1964), a Russian-born American engineer and inventor who was instrumental in the development of early radio and television technology.

In the literary world, Konstantin Popoff (1827-1892) was a renowned Russian writer and poet who contributed significantly to the development of Russian realism in literature.

The Popoff name has also been associated with various scientific and academic fields. For example, Nikolai Popoff (1913-1992) was a prominent Russian mathematician known for his work in topology and functional analysis.

While the surname Popoff has its roots in Eastern Europe, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora communities. However, its origins can be traced back to the Slavic regions, where it likely emerged from the word "pop," signifying a connection to the clergy or religious orders of the Orthodox Church.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Popoff

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Popoff.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Popoff was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Popoff has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Popoff was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Popoff, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!