2010
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Pulitzer
A surname derived from the French town of Pulitzer, possibly meaning "from Pulitzer".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 123 Americans carry the last name Pulitzer. That puts it at #151,639 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,786,621 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pulitzer 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
123
1 in 2,786,621
Census rank
#151,639
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
107
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 107 bearers of the surname Pulitzer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 151639th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pulitzer, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.9%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pulitzer
The surname Pulitzer has its origins in Hungary, where it is believed to have emerged in the 16th century. The name is derived from the Hungarian word "pulya," which means "chick" or "young fowl." It is thought to have originally been an occupational surname referring to someone who worked with poultry or a nickname given to a small or diminutive person.
The earliest known record of the Pulitzer name dates back to the late 16th century in the town of Makó, located in what is now southeastern Hungary. In a 1589 census record, a man named István Pulitzer is listed as a resident of the town.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Pulitzer name began to spread to other parts of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. One notable early bearer of the name was János Pulitzer, a Lutheran pastor born in Eperjes (now Prešov, Slovakia) in 1711. He served as the rector of the Lutheran high school in Kežmarok (Késmárk) from 1745 until his death in 1774.
The most famous historical figure with the Pulitzer surname is undoubtedly Joseph Pulitzer, the Hungarian-American newspaper publisher and philanthropist. Born József Pulitzer in Makó, Hungary, in 1847, he emigrated to the United States in 1864 and went on to establish the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York World newspapers. Pulitzer played a significant role in establishing the modern concept of objective journalism and founded the prestigious Pulitzer Prizes, which are awarded annually for excellence in journalism, literature, and other fields.
Another noteworthy Pulitzer was the Austrian-American author and playwright Franz Theodor Pulitzer, who lived from 1868 to 1942. He was a cousin of Joseph Pulitzer and wrote several plays, novels, and short stories in German.
In the 20th century, the Pulitzer name continued to be associated with journalism and publishing. Ralph Pulitzer, the son of Joseph Pulitzer, served as the publisher of the New York World from 1908 to 1939. The Pulitzer family also maintained ownership of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch until the late 1980s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pulitzer
Among Census respondents with the surname Pulitzer, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.9%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Pulitzer 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 Pulitzer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.3% · 102
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 2
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pulitzer
Pulitzer appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#151,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 107 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #151,639 | 107 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Down 107 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 Pulitzer 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 | #151,532 | #151,639 | -0.1% |
| Count | 108 | 107 | -0.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -10.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pulitzer bearers went from 108 to 107 (-0.9% change). The surname moved down 107 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #151,639.
FAQ
Pulitzer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pulitzer?
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the surname Pulitzer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,786,621 residents.
How common is Pulitzer?
Pulitzer ranks #151,639 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 107 people with the surname Pulitzer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (123), 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 Pulitzer.
Has Pulitzer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pulitzer went from 108 recorded bearers to 107. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #151,532 to #151,639.
What does the Census say about the background of Pulitzer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pulitzer, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.9%) and Black (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 Pulitzer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.3% (102 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pulitzer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.3%), Hispanic (1.9%), Black (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 Pulitzer (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 Pulitzer mean?
A surname derived from the French town of Pulitzer, possibly meaning "from Pulitzer". 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 Pulitzer (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 are called Pulitzer?
See how many Americans have the surname Pulitzer on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.