Find out how popular the last name Semko is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Semko.

Semko, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Semko surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Semko in America

Semko is the 77788th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Semko surname appeared 246 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Semko.

We can also compare 2010 data for Semko to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Semko

The surname "SEMKO" is believed to have originated in the Slavic regions of Eastern Europe, most likely in the area that is now modern-day Poland or Ukraine. It is thought to have derived from the Slavic word "sem," which means "seven" or "seventh," possibly indicating that the original bearer was the seventh child in a family.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the Polish town of Krakow, where a Jakub Semko was documented in the town's records in the late 16th century. The name also appeared in various church registers and tax records throughout the 17th and 18th centuries in the regions of Galicia and Volhynia, which were part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time.

In the 19th century, the surname Semko began to appear in records from the Russian Empire, particularly in areas with significant Ukrainian populations, such as the regions of Kharkiv, Poltava, and Chernihiv. This suggests that the name had spread eastward from its presumed origins in Poland and Western Ukraine.

One notable bearer of the Semko surname was Hryhoriy Semko, a Ukrainian Cossack leader and military commander who lived in the late 17th century. He played a significant role in the Khmelnytsky Uprising against Polish rule and is remembered as a prominent figure in Ukrainian history.

Another individual with the Semko surname was Yuriy Semko, a Ukrainian painter and artist who lived from 1892 to 1937. He was known for his depictions of rural life and landscapes in his native Ukraine and is considered an important figure in the development of Ukrainian art in the early 20th century.

Ivan Semko, born in 1884 in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, was a prominent Ukrainian writer and playwright. He authored numerous works that explored themes of peasant life and the struggles of the Ukrainian people under Imperial Russian rule.

In the 20th century, the surname Semko became more widely dispersed due to migration and emigration from Eastern Europe. Notably, Bohdan Semko was a Canadian writer and journalist of Ukrainian descent, born in 1920 in Saskatchewan. He wrote extensively about Ukrainian-Canadian culture and history.

While the surname Semko is not exceptionally common, it has left its mark on the historical record, particularly in the regions of Eastern Europe where it originated and developed over several centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Semko

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Semko.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Semko was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Semko has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Semko was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Semko, please contact us.

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