2000
#122,534
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 130
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Prokopiak
A Ukrainian (or possibly Polish) patronymic surname derived from the given name Prokop.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 127 Americans carry the last name Prokopiak. That puts it at #148,665 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,698,853 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Prokopiak 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
127
1 in 2,698,853
Census rank
#148,665
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
111
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 111 bearers of the surname Prokopiak in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 148665th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Prokopiak, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Prokopiak
The surname Prokopiak is believed to have originated in Belarus and western Russia during the medieval period. It is derived from the Slavic personal name Prokop, which itself comes from the Greek name Prokopios meaning "progress" or "advancement." Variations of the spelling in historical records include Prokopyak, Prokopjak, and Prokopenko.
One of the earliest known references to the name Prokopiak can be found in a 16th century tax registry from the town of Orsha in modern-day Belarus. The document lists a certain Ivan Prokopiak as a landowner in the region. Another early mention is of a Grigory Prokopiak, a soldier in the Russian army during the reign of Tsar Alexis I in the mid-1600s.
In the 18th century, the name appears in church records from the village of Zhlobin, near the city of Gomel in eastern Belarus. A Yefim Prokopiak and his wife Aksiniya are listed as having several children baptized there between 1720 and 1740. Around the same time, a Semyon Prokopiak is recorded as a merchant in the town of Chernigov, which was then part of the Russian Empire.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Prokopiak name to gain prominence was Yegor Prokopiak, a Russian revolutionary born in 1869 in the village of Peresypkino. He was an active member of the Bolshevik party and participated in the 1917 Russian Revolution. After the establishment of the Soviet Union, Prokopiak served as a regional party leader in Siberia until his death in 1935.
Another notable figure was Andrei Prokopiak, a Belarusian painter born in 1890 in the town of Bobruisk. He was a leading artist of the Belarusian avant-garde movement in the early 20th century and is particularly known for his cubist-inspired landscapes and portraits. Prokopiak's works can be found in museums across Belarus and Russia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Prokopiak
Among Census respondents with the surname Prokopiak, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Prokopiak 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 Prokopiak surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.8% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Prokopiak
Prokopiak 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
#134,712
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 125
-5 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 12,178 places
2020
#148,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
-14 bearers (-11.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 13,953 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #122,534 | 130 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #134,712 | 125 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-3.8%) | Down 12,178 places |
| 2020 | #148,665 | 111 | 0.04 | -14 bearers (-11.2%) | Down 13,953 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 Prokopiak 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 | #134,712 | #148,665 | -10.4% |
| Count | 125 | 111 | -11.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Prokopiak bearers went from 125 to 111 (-11.2% change). The surname moved down 13,953 positions in the national ranking, going from #134,712 to #148,665.
FAQ
Prokopiak surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Prokopiak?
Name Census estimates that about 127 living Americans carry the surname Prokopiak. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,698,853 residents.
How common is Prokopiak?
Prokopiak ranks #148,665 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 111 people with the surname Prokopiak. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (127), 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 Prokopiak.
Has Prokopiak become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Prokopiak went from 125 recorded bearers to 111. That is a decrease of 14 (-11.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #134,712 to #148,665.
What does the Census say about the background of Prokopiak?
Among Census respondents with the surname Prokopiak, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.8%). 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 Prokopiak in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (103 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Prokopiak appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.8%), Hispanic (4.5%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.8%). 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 Prokopiak (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 Prokopiak mean?
A Ukrainian (or possibly Polish) patronymic surname derived from the given name Prokop. 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 Prokopiak (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 Americans have the surname Prokopiak?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.