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

Valek, 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 Valek surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Valek in America

Valek is the 31033rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Valek surname appeared 748 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 Valek.

We can also compare 2010 data for Valek 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 Valek

The surname Valek has its origins in the Czech Republic, dating back to the late medieval period around the 15th century. It is believed to be derived from the Czech word "valek," which means "roller" or "cylinder," and was likely an occupational name given to someone who worked with rolling or cylindrical objects, such as a miller or a baker.

The name is found in some of the earliest Czech census records and documents from the 15th and 16th centuries, particularly in the regions of Bohemia and Moravia. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Jan Valek, a miller from the town of Kutná Hora, who lived in the late 15th century.

In the 16th century, the name appears in several historical records, including the Moravian Land Tables, which were official records of land ownership and transactions in the region. One notable person with the surname Valek from this time period was Petr Valek, a landowner and nobleman who lived in the town of Brno in the late 16th century.

By the 17th and 18th centuries, the name had spread to other parts of Central Europe, including Slovakia and Poland. In Poland, the name was sometimes spelled as "Walek" or "Wallek." A prominent figure with this surname was Jan Walek, a Polish-Czech military commander who fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).

Another significant person with the surname Valek was Karel Valek, a Czech writer and journalist who lived in the 19th century (1824-1908). He was known for his contributions to Czech literature and his advocacy for Czech national identity.

In the 20th century, one of the most notable individuals with the surname Valek was Vladimír Valek (1921-1998), a Czech film director and screenwriter who was active in the Czech New Wave cinema movement of the 1960s.

While the surname Valek is most common in the Czech Republic, it can also be found in other countries with significant Czech or Slovak populations, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, where it was likely brought by immigrants from Central Europe.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Valek

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

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

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

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