2000
#140,756
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Rudko
A Ukrainian surname derived from the word "rudoy" meaning reddish or red-haired.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 123 Americans carry the last name Rudko. 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 Rudko 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 Rudko 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 Rudko, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Black (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rudko
The surname RUDKO has its origins in Eastern Europe, specifically in the region that is now Ukraine. It is believed to have emerged in the 16th or 17th century, derived from the Slavic word "ruda," which means "red" or "reddish."
This surname likely originated as a descriptive name for someone with reddish hair or a ruddy complexion. It could also have been a topographic name referring to someone who lived near a place with reddish soil or clay.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name RUDKO can be found in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's historical records from the late 16th century, where it appears as "Rudko" or "Rudkov."
In the 17th century, the name RUDKO was found in various village and town records across what is now western Ukraine and eastern Poland. For example, a Hryhorii Rudko was mentioned in a land deed in the village of Zhovkva, near Lviv, in the year 1634.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the name RUDKO began to spread more widely throughout the Ukrainian territories of the Russian Empire. Notable individuals with this surname included Andrii Rudko, a Cossack leader who fought against Polish forces in the 1670s, and Pavlo Rudko, a Ukrainian poet and writer who lived from 1836 to 1892.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as immigration from Eastern Europe to North America increased, the surname RUDKO started appearing in records in the United States and Canada. One early immigrant with this name was Ivan Rudko, who arrived in New York City from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1901.
Other notable individuals with the surname RUDKO throughout history include Mykhailo Rudko, a Ukrainian painter and art teacher who lived from 1887 to 1975, and Yurii Rudko, a Soviet-era Ukrainian writer and playwright who was born in 1920 and died in 1988.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rudko
Among Census respondents with the surname Rudko, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Black (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Rudko 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 Rudko surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.5% · 100
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 5
- Black or African American1.9% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rudko
Rudko 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 8,639 places
2020
#151,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
-3 bearers (-2.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 2,244 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #140,756 | 109 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #149,395 | 110 | 0.04 | +1 bearers (+0.9%) | Down 8,639 places |
| 2020 | #151,639 | 107 | 0.04 | -3 bearers (-2.7%) | Down 2,244 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 Rudko 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 | #151,639 | -1.5% |
| Count | 110 | 107 | -2.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -10.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rudko bearers went from 110 to 107 (-2.7% change). The surname moved down 2,244 positions in the national ranking, going from #149,395 to #151,639.
FAQ
Rudko surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rudko?
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the surname Rudko. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,786,621 residents.
How common is Rudko?
Rudko 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 Rudko. 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 Rudko.
Has Rudko become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rudko went from 110 recorded bearers to 107. That is a decrease of 3 (-2.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #149,395 to #151,639.
What does the Census say about the background of Rudko?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rudko, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Black (1.9%). 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 Rudko in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rudko appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.5%), Hispanic (4.7%), Black (1.9%). 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 Rudko (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 Rudko mean?
A Ukrainian surname derived from the word "rudoy" meaning reddish or red-haired. 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 Rudko (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 Rudko?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Rudko at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.