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

Smejkal, 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 Smejkal surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Smejkal in America

Smejkal is the 37591st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Smejkal surname appeared 592 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 Smejkal.

We can also compare 2010 data for Smejkal 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 Smejkal

The surname SMEJKAL originates from the Czech Republic and is believed to have emerged in the late 15th or early 16th century. It is derived from the Czech word "smejkal," which means "someone who laughs a lot" or "a jester." This suggests that the name may have initially been used as a nickname for someone with a humorous or jovial personality.

The earliest known record of the SMEJKAL surname can be found in a document from the town of Pardubice, dated 1538, where a man named Jan Smejkal is mentioned. Another early reference comes from the town of Litomyšl, where a certain Vaclav Smejkal is listed in a registry from 1591.

Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, the SMEJKAL surname appeared in various regions of what is now the Czech Republic, including Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. It was particularly prevalent in the areas around the cities of Prague, Brno, and Olomouc.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the SMEJKAL surname was Jan Smejkal (1592-1648), a Czech writer and translator who lived in the early 17th century. He is known for his translations of religious texts from Latin into Czech.

Another significant figure was Vaclav Smejkal (1650-1715), a Catholic priest and historian who authored several works on the history of Bohemia and Moravia.

In the 18th century, Frantisek Smejkal (1722-1798) was a prominent Czech mathematician and astronomer. He worked as a professor at the University of Prague and made contributions to the fields of calculus and celestial mechanics.

Moving into the 19th century, Josef Smejkal (1824-1887) was a Czech writer and journalist who played an active role in the Czech National Revival movement, which aimed to revive the Czech language and culture.

Finally, in the 20th century, Jaroslav Smejkal (1901-1976) was a notable Czech architect who designed several notable buildings in Prague, including the Church of St. Wenceslaus in Vysehrad.

While the SMEJKAL surname is most commonly associated with the Czech Republic, it has also spread to other parts of the world through immigration, particularly to countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Smejkal

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

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 Smejkal 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 Smejkal 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 Smejkal was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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