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

Ulam, 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 Ulam surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ulam in America

Ulam is the 83834th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ulam surname appeared 224 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 Ulam.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ulam 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 Ulam

The surname ULAM is believed to have originated in Poland, derived from the Polish word "ulam" which means "fragment" or "piece." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived in a small settlement or a fragmented part of a larger community.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the ULAM surname can be found in the 16th-century tax records of the city of Krakow, where a certain Jan Ulam was listed as a landowner. The name also appears in various church records and legal documents from the same period, indicating its presence in various regions of Poland.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the ULAM surname became more widespread, with families bearing this name found in various towns and villages across central and eastern Poland. Some notable individuals from this time include Tomasz Ulam, a prominent merchant from Warsaw who lived in the late 17th century, and Katarzyna Ulam, a landowner from the town of Lublin in the early 18th century.

In the 19th century, the ULAM surname gained greater prominence with the birth of Stanisław Ulam (1909-1984), a renowned Polish-American mathematician and scientist who made significant contributions to the fields of nuclear physics, computational mathematics, and the study of nonlinear processes. He was born in Lviv, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and later immigrated to the United States.

Another notable figure with the ULAM surname was Bronisław Ulam (1888-1939), a Polish writer and journalist who was active in the early 20th century. He was born in Warsaw and is best known for his literary works that explored themes of social injustice and the struggles of the working class.

In the mid-20th century, Jerzy Ulam (1917-2002), a Polish-American historian and author, made significant contributions to the study of Polish history and culture. He was born in Lviv and later emigrated to the United States, where he taught at several universities, including the University of Southern California.

While the ULAM surname has its roots in Poland, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and immigration. However, its origins can be traced back to the historical regions of central and eastern Poland, where it first emerged as a prominent family name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ulam

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

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

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

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