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

Spokas, 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 Spokas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Spokas in America

Spokas is the 106570th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Spokas surname appeared 167 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 Spokas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Spokas 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 Spokas

The surname "Spokas" is of Lithuanian origin, with its roots traced back to the 15th century. It is believed to have originated from the Lithuanian word "spokas," which means "vain" or "arrogant." The name may have been initially given as a nickname or a descriptive term to individuals who exhibited such characteristics.

During the medieval period, the use of surnames in Lithuania was not widespread, and people were often identified by their given names, patronymics, or descriptive nicknames. The adoption of hereditary surnames became more common in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly among the nobility and urban dwellers.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname "Spokas" can be found in the records of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which ruled over a vast territory spanning parts of modern-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland. In the 16th century, a nobleman named Jonas Spokas was mentioned in a land grant document issued by the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

The surname "Spokas" has also been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. In the late 18th century, Antanas Spokas was a prominent Lithuanian writer and poet who contributed to the development of Lithuanian literature during the Lithuanian National Revival. He was born in 1761 and passed away in 1830.

Another notable bearer of the surname was Juozas Spokas, a Lithuanian painter and art educator who lived from 1873 to 1945. He played a significant role in the development of Lithuanian realist painting and was known for his landscapes and portraits.

In the 20th century, Petras Spokas (1892-1968) was a Lithuanian-American composer and choir director. He emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s and contributed to the preservation and promotion of Lithuanian folk music and choral traditions in the Lithuanian-American community.

Marija Spokaitė-Pociuvienė (1896-1975) was a prominent Lithuanian writer and playwright. She was known for her novels and plays that depicted the struggles and aspirations of Lithuanian women during the early 20th century.

While the surname "Spokas" may have originated as a descriptive nickname, it has since become a recognized Lithuanian surname, carried by families across generations and across various regions of Lithuania and the Lithuanian diaspora.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Spokas

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

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

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

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