2000
#138,741
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 111
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Ruchotzke
A locational surname derived from a place name in Poland or Germany.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Ruchotzke. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ruchotzke 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Ruchotzke in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ruchotzke, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Ruchotzke
The surname RUCHOTZKE is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the 16th century in the regions of modern-day Saxony and Brandenburg. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "roch," meaning "rough" or "coarse," and the suffix "-itz," which was commonly used to denote a place of origin or a diminutive form. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone from a small, rugged village or settlement.
One of the earliest recorded instances of this surname appears in the Kirchenbücher (church records) of the town of Lübben, located in the Spree-Neiße district of Brandenburg, dating back to the mid-1600s. The name was spelled variously as "Ruchotzke," "Ruchhotske," and "Ruchozke" in these early documents.
In the late 18th century, a notable figure named Johann Ruchotzke (1744-1823) was a prominent theologian and pastor in the town of Cottbus, Brandenburg. He authored several religious texts and was highly respected in his community.
The 19th century saw the name appear in various regions of Prussia, with records indicating Ruchotzke families residing in cities such as Berlin, Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), and Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). One notable bearer of the name during this period was Karl Ruchotzke (1821-1897), a celebrated painter and illustrator from Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland).
As Germans immigrated to other parts of the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the surname Ruchotzke began to appear in places like the United States and Canada. One such individual was Wilhelm Ruchotzke (1870-1944), a German-American businessman who founded a successful manufacturing company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Another notable figure was Erich Ruchotzke (1905-1982), a German-born artist and sculptor who immigrated to the United States in the 1930s and became known for his abstract and modernist works. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career.
While the surname Ruchotzke is relatively uncommon, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and regions, with notable bearers contributing to various fields such as religion, art, and commerce.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ruchotzke
Among Census respondents with the surname Ruchotzke, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Ruchotzke 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 Ruchotzke surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.1% · 98
- Two or more races3.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ruchotzke
Ruchotzke 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
#149,395
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 10,654 places
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-7 bearers (-6.4%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 4,787 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #138,741 | 111 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #149,395 | 110 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Down 10,654 places |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -7 bearers (-6.4%) | Down 4,787 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 Ruchotzke 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 | #149,395 | #154,182 | -3.2% |
| Count | 110 | 103 | -6.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ruchotzke bearers went from 110 to 103 (-6.4% change). The surname moved down 4,787 positions in the national ranking, going from #149,395 to #154,182.
FAQ
Ruchotzke surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ruchotzke?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Ruchotzke. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Ruchotzke?
Ruchotzke ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 103 people with the surname Ruchotzke. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Ruchotzke.
Has Ruchotzke become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ruchotzke went from 110 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 7 (-6.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #149,395 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Ruchotzke?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ruchotzke, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%). 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 Ruchotzke in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.1% (98 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ruchotzke appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.1%), Two or More Races (3.9%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%). 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 Ruchotzke (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 Ruchotzke mean?
A locational surname derived from a place name in Poland or Germany. 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 Ruchotzke (0.03 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 Ruchotzke?
If you just want to know how common the surname Ruchotzke is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.