2000
#114,852
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 141
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Tomal
A surname of Scandinavian origin, possibly derived from the Old Norse name Þormóðr.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 135 Americans carry the last name Tomal. That puts it at #143,511 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,538,921 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Tomal 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
135
1 in 2,538,921
Census rank
#143,511
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
118
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 118 bearers of the surname Tomal in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 143511th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Tomal, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.9%) and Black (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Tomal
The surname Tomal is believed to have originated in the Czech Republic, with its earliest known origins dating back to the late 13th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old Czech word 'tomalec', meaning 'small round loaf of bread'. This suggests that the name may have originally been a nickname or occupational surname given to a baker or someone associated with the baking trade.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Tomal surname can be found in the Breviář Vatikánský, a 14th-century Czech manuscript containing religious texts and sermons. This document mentions a certain "Petr Tomal" from the village of Štoky, which is located in the modern-day Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.
In the 15th century, the Tomal surname appeared in various records from the region of Moravia, which was then part of the Kingdom of Bohemia. A notable example is Jan Tomal, a merchant and landowner who lived in the town of Brno during the mid-1400s.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Tomal surname began to spread across other parts of Central and Eastern Europe, likely due to migration and trade routes. In 1612, a man named Michal Tomal was listed as a resident of the town of Nowy Sącz, which is now located in southern Poland.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Tomal surname in Germany was a certain Georg Tomal, who was born in the town of Görlitz in 1689. Görlitz is situated near the modern-day border between Germany and Poland, which may explain the spread of the name to this region.
In the 19th century, there are records of a prominent Czech writer and journalist named Karel Tomal, who was born in 1824 in the town of Stará Říše. He is known for his works exploring Czech culture and folklore, as well as his contributions to the Czech National Revival movement.
Another notable figure with the Tomal surname was Jan Tomal, a Czech painter and illustrator who lived from 1892 to 1954. He is particularly remembered for his illustrations of children's books and his depictions of rural life in Bohemia.
While the Tomal surname has its roots in the Czech lands, it has since spread to various other countries and regions, likely due to migration and intermarriage over the centuries. However, its origins can be traced back to the late medieval period in what is now the Czech Republic, where it was likely an occupational surname associated with the baking trade.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tomal
Among Census respondents with the surname Tomal, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.9%) and Black (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Tomal 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 Tomal surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.5% · 95
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.9% · 14
- Black or African American3.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 3
- Two or more races1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Tomal
Tomal 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
#126,765
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 135
-6 bearers (-4.3%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 11,913 places
2020
#143,511
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
-17 bearers (-12.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,746 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #114,852 | 141 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #126,765 | 135 | 0.05 | -6 bearers (-4.3%) | Down 11,913 places |
| 2020 | #143,511 | 118 | 0.04 | -17 bearers (-12.6%) | Down 16,746 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 Tomal 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 | #126,765 | #143,511 | -13.2% |
| Count | 135 | 118 | -12.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -21.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Tomal bearers went from 135 to 118 (-12.6% change). The surname moved down 16,746 positions in the national ranking, going from #126,765 to #143,511.
FAQ
Tomal surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Tomal?
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the surname Tomal. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,538,921 residents.
How common is Tomal?
Tomal ranks #143,511 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 118 people with the surname Tomal. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (135), 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 Tomal.
Has Tomal become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Tomal went from 135 recorded bearers to 118. That is a decrease of 17 (-12.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #126,765 to #143,511.
What does the Census say about the background of Tomal?
Among Census respondents with the surname Tomal, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.9%) and Black (3.4%). 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 Tomal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Tomal appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (80.5%), Asian/Pacific Islander (11.9%), Black (3.4%). 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 Tomal (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 Tomal mean?
A surname of Scandinavian origin, possibly derived from the Old Norse name Þormóðr. 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 Tomal (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 Tomal?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Tomal is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.