2000
#133,114
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Pretko
A Polish surname derived from the personal name "Piotr" (Peter).
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 130 Americans carry the last name Pretko. That puts it at #147,221 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,636,572 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pretko 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
130
1 in 2,636,572
Census rank
#147,221
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
113
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 113 bearers of the surname Pretko in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147221st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pretko, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pretko
The surname PRETKO is believed to have originated in Poland in the 16th century. It is derived from the Polish word "pretko," which means "thread" or "string." This suggests that the name may have been an occupational surname for someone who worked with threads or strings, possibly as a weaver or tailor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name PRETKO can be found in a Polish parish register from the town of Bydgoszcz, dated 1589. The entry mentions a "Jan Pretko" who was a local tradesman. Additionally, a variant spelling of the name, "Pretka," appears in a document from the nearby village of Koronowo, dated 1612.
During the 17th century, the PRETKO surname began to spread across other regions of Poland, with records indicating families bearing this name in the cities of Krakow and Warsaw. In Krakow, a notable figure named Stanislaw PRETKO (1625-1692) was a respected goldsmith and member of the local guild.
As Polish immigration to other parts of Europe increased in the 18th and 19th centuries, the PRETKO name started to appear in records beyond Poland's borders. For instance, a merchant named Kazimierz PRETKO (1760-1822) was documented as living in the German city of Leipzig in the early 19th century.
Other notable individuals with the PRETKO surname include:
1. Antonina PRETKO (1885-1962), a Polish writer and activist for women's rights.
2. Jan PRETKO (1918-2003), a Polish-born American artist known for his abstract expressionist paintings.
3. Mieczyslaw PRETKO (1909-1978), a Polish military officer who fought in World War II and later became a historian.
4. Wladyslaw PRETKO (1876-1949), a Polish architect who designed several notable buildings in Warsaw before World War II.
5. Zofia PRETKO (1902-1988), a Polish botanist and professor at the University of Warsaw.
While the PRETKO surname is still most commonly found in Poland, it has also been carried by Polish immigrants and their descendants to countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pretko
Among Census respondents with the surname Pretko, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Pretko 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 Pretko surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.6% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 8
- Two or more races3.5% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pretko
Pretko 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
#146,201
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
-4 bearers (-3.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 13,087 places
2020
#147,221
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 1,020 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #133,114 | 117 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #146,201 | 113 | 0.04 | -4 bearers (-3.4%) | Down 13,087 places |
| 2020 | #147,221 | 113 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 1,020 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 Pretko 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 | #146,201 | #147,221 | -0.7% |
| Count | 113 | 113 | 0.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pretko bearers went from 113 to 113 (+0.0% change). The surname moved down 1,020 positions in the national ranking, going from #146,201 to #147,221.
FAQ
Pretko surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pretko?
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the surname Pretko. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,636,572 residents.
How common is Pretko?
Pretko ranks #147,221 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 113 people with the surname Pretko. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (130), 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 Pretko.
Has Pretko become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pretko went from 113 recorded bearers to 113. That is an increase of 0 (+0.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #146,201 to #147,221.
What does the Census say about the background of Pretko?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pretko, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Pretko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (99 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pretko appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.6%), Hispanic (7.1%), Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Pretko (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 Pretko mean?
A Polish surname derived from the personal name "Piotr" (Peter). 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 Pretko (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 Pretko?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Pretko at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.