2000
#124,109
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 128
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Samplawski
A surname with Polish or Eastern European origins, potentially derived from a place name or personal characteristic.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 115 Americans carry the last name Samplawski. That puts it at #155,682 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,980,473 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Samplawski 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
115
1 in 2,980,473
Census rank
#155,682
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
100
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 100 bearers of the surname Samplawski in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 155682nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Samplawski, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Samplawski
The surname Samplawski is of Polish origin, tracing its roots back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated in the region of Masovia, located in central Poland. The name is thought to be derived from the old Polish word "sampław," which referred to a type of willow tree found in this area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Samplawski name can be found in the Metryka Koronna, an ancient Polish registry of legal documents from the 16th century. It mentions a landowner named Jan Samplawski, who owned a small estate in the village of Stara Wieś, near the town of Czersk.
In the late 17th century, the name appears in the parish records of the town of Gostynin, where a family of Samplawskis lived and worked as millers along the Skrwa River. The patriarch of this family, Maciej Samplawski (1652-1721), is said to have built one of the first water-powered mills in the region.
The Samplawski name gained some prominence in the 19th century with the birth of Wincenty Samplawski (1817-1892), a renowned Polish painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. His works, which often depicted scenes from rural life in Poland, can be found in several museums and galleries across the country.
Another notable figure was Michał Samplawski (1879-1944), a Polish soldier and politician who fought in World War I and later served as a member of the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, in the interwar period.
During the Polish Renaissance in the 16th century, a poet and playwright named Stefan Samplawski (1540-1603) gained recognition for his works, which drew inspiration from classical Greek and Roman literature. His plays were performed in the courts of Polish nobility and helped popularize the use of the Polish language in literature.
While the Samplawski name has its roots in central Poland, over the centuries, it has spread to other parts of the country and even beyond its borders, as families migrated and settled in new regions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samplawski
Among Census respondents with the surname Samplawski, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Samplawski 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 Samplawski surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.0% · 95
- Two or more races4.0% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Samplawski
Samplawski 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
#145,220
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-14 bearers (-10.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 21,111 places
2020
#155,682
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100
-14 bearers (-12.3%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 10,462 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #124,109 | 128 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | -14 bearers (-10.9%) | Down 21,111 places |
| 2020 | #155,682 | 100 | 0.03 | -14 bearers (-12.3%) | Down 10,462 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 Samplawski 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 | #145,220 | #155,682 | -7.2% |
| Count | 114 | 100 | -12.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -16.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Samplawski bearers went from 114 to 100 (-12.3% change). The surname moved down 10,462 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #155,682.
FAQ
Samplawski surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Samplawski?
Name Census estimates that about 115 living Americans carry the surname Samplawski. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,980,473 residents.
How common is Samplawski?
Samplawski ranks #155,682 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 100 people with the surname Samplawski. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (115), 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 Samplawski.
Has Samplawski become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Samplawski went from 114 recorded bearers to 100. That is a decrease of 14 (-12.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #155,682.
What does the Census say about the background of Samplawski?
Among Census respondents with the surname Samplawski, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (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 Samplawski in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.0% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Samplawski appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.0%), Two or More Races (4.0%), Hispanic (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 Samplawski (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 Samplawski mean?
A surname with Polish or Eastern European origins, potentially derived from a place name or personal characteristic. 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 Samplawski (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 share the surname Samplawski?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.