2000
#107,038
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 154
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.06
Very Rare Last name
Pristash
A surname potentially derived from a Slavic place name or occupation involving forests or logging.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Pristash. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pristash 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
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Pristash in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pristash, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pristash
The surname Pristash is believed to have originated in the region of Galicia, which was once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now split between modern-day Poland and Ukraine. The name likely emerged sometime in the late 15th or early 16th century, derived from the Slavic root "prist," meaning "pier" or "wharf."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Pristash name can be found in the Galician town of Drohobych, where a merchant named Ivan Pristash is mentioned in a local tax record from 1548. The name also appears in various church records and land deeds from the surrounding villages and towns throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.
In the late 18th century, a nobleman named Andriy Pristash was granted a coat of arms by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which featured a ship's anchor and a pair of crossed oars, likely symbolizing the family's connections to the nearby Dniester River and its shipping trade.
A notable figure bearing the Pristash surname was Yuriy Pristash (1823-1892), a Ukrainian writer and poet who played a prominent role in the cultural renaissance of Galicia during the 19th century. His works helped to preserve and promote the region's rich literary and folk traditions.
Another individual of note was Oleksandr Pristash (1867-1931), a Galician lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Austrian Parliament in the early 20th century. He was a vocal advocate for greater autonomy and rights for the Ukrainian population within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Pristash name also found its way to the United States and Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as many Galician immigrants sought new opportunities in North America. One such immigrant was Mykhailo Pristash (1879-1957), a farmer and community leader who settled in the Canadian province of Alberta in the early 1900s.
While the Pristash surname may not be as widely known as some others, it has a rich history that can be traced back to the shores of the Dniester River and the bustling trade centers of Galicia centuries ago.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pristash
Among Census respondents with the surname Pristash, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Pristash 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 Pristash surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.3% · 117
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pristash
Pristash 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
-14 bearers (-9.1%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 16,026 places
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-21 bearers (-15.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 19,724 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #107,038 | 154 | 0.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #123,064 | 140 | 0.05 | -14 bearers (-9.1%) | Down 16,026 places |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | -21 bearers (-15.0%) | Down 19,724 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 Pristash 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 | #142,788 | -16.0% |
| Count | 140 | 119 | -15.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -20.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pristash bearers went from 140 to 119 (-15.0% change). The surname moved down 19,724 positions in the national ranking, going from #123,064 to #142,788.
FAQ
Pristash surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pristash?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Pristash. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Pristash?
Pristash ranks #142,788 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 119 people with the surname Pristash. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), 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 Pristash.
Has Pristash become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pristash went from 140 recorded bearers to 119. That is a decrease of 21 (-15.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #123,064 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Pristash?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pristash, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Pristash in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.3% (117 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pristash appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.3%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%), Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Pristash (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 Pristash mean?
A surname potentially derived from a Slavic place name or occupation involving forests or logging. 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 Pristash (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 surname Pristash?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.