2010
#140,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Simkowitz
A surname of East European origin meaning "son of Simeon".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Simkowitz. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Simkowitz 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Simkowitz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Simkowitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Simkowitz
The surname Simkowitz is of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, tracing its roots back to Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. The name is a variant of the more common Simkovitch, derived from the Hebrew personal name Simcha, meaning "joy" or "rejoice." The addition of the Slavic suffix "-vich" or "-witz" signified "son of," denoting a patronymic surname.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Simkowitz surname can be found in the 17th-century Polish census records, where it appeared as Simkowicz. This variant spelling reflects the influence of the Polish language on the name's orthography. The name was particularly prevalent in the regions of modern-day Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, where large Ashkenazi Jewish communities thrived before the Holocaust.
In the 18th century, the Simkowitz name surfaced in various Jewish communal records and manuscripts, such as birth registries and synagogue records. One notable mention is that of Reb Yitzchak Simkowitz, a respected scholar and rabbi who lived in the town of Berdychiv, Ukraine, in the late 1700s.
As the Ashkenazi Jewish diaspora spread across Europe and beyond, the Simkowitz name traveled with them. In the mid-19th century, Isaac Simkowitz, a merchant from Galicia (present-day western Ukraine and southeastern Poland), settled in London, where he established a successful business. His descendants continued to use the Simkowitz surname in England.
Another prominent figure bearing the Simkowitz name was Chaim Simkowitz, a renowned Talmudic scholar and author who lived in Vilna, Lithuania (now Vilnius, Lithuania), in the late 19th century. His writings on Jewish law and ethics were widely studied and influential in the Litvak (Lithuanian Jewish) community.
In the early 20th century, the Simkowitz surname gained recognition in the United States, as many Ashkenazi Jews fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe immigrated to America. One such individual was Jacob Simkowitz, a writer and journalist born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1892, who later settled in New York City and became a prominent voice in the Yiddish literary scene.
Other notable individuals with the Simkowitz surname include Abraham Simkowitz (1892-1973), a Polish-born American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Simkowitz Family Foundation, and Leah Simkowitz (1926-2018), a Holocaust survivor and author who chronicled her experiences in the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Simkowitz
Among Census respondents with the surname Simkowitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Simkowitz 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 Simkowitz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.3% · 100
- Two or more races4.5% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 3
- Black or African American1.8% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Simkowitz
Simkowitz 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
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-7 bearers (-5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,797 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #140,157 | 119 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.9%) | Down 7,797 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 Simkowitz 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 | #140,157 | #147,954 | -5.6% |
| Count | 119 | 112 | -5.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Simkowitz bearers went from 119 to 112 (-5.9% change). The surname moved down 7,797 positions in the national ranking, going from #140,157 to #147,954.
FAQ
Simkowitz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Simkowitz?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Simkowitz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Simkowitz?
Simkowitz ranks #147,954 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 112 people with the surname Simkowitz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), 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 Simkowitz.
Has Simkowitz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Simkowitz went from 119 recorded bearers to 112. That is a decrease of 7 (-5.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #140,157 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Simkowitz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Simkowitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%). 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 Simkowitz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.3% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Simkowitz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.3%), Two or More Races (4.5%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%). 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 Simkowitz (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 Simkowitz mean?
A surname of East European origin meaning "son of Simeon". 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 Simkowitz (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 Simkowitz?
For a quick modern take, check how many people are called Simkowitz on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.