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

Vukelich, 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 Vukelich surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vukelich in America

Vukelich is the 43811th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vukelich surname appeared 492 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 Vukelich.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vukelich 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 Vukelich

The surname Vukelich is of Croatian origin, originating in the region of Dalmatia on the Adriatic coast. It likely emerged during the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century. The name is derived from the Slavic personal name Vuk, meaning "wolf", with the suffix -elic indicating a diminutive or patronymic form.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vukelich can be found in the 14th-century Venetian cadastral records, which documented landowners and taxpayers in the coastal areas of Dalmatia. These records mention a Vukelich family residing in the town of Šibenik.

In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Vukelich was Jakov Vukelich, a merchant and ship owner from the island of Hvar. He was involved in maritime trade and commerce in the Adriatic Sea during the height of the Venetian Republic's influence in the region.

The Vukelich surname is also found in historical documents from the island of Korčula, where it was associated with several prominent families. In the 17th century, Nikola Vukelich, a member of the local nobility, served as a magistrate and held various administrative positions in the island's government.

During the 19th century, the Vukelich surname gained wider recognition with the birth of Ivo Vukelich (1819-1896), a Croatian writer and playwright from Dubrovnik. His works, including plays and poetry, focused on themes of national identity and the struggles of the Croatian people under foreign rule.

Another notable figure with the Vukelich surname was Marko Vukelich (1857-1935), a Croatian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist. Born in Dalmatia, he immigrated to the United States and founded a successful business empire, eventually becoming one of the wealthiest Croatian-Americans of his time. He donated significant funds to various educational and cultural institutions in both Croatia and the United States.

The Vukelich surname can also be found in historical records from other regions of the former Yugoslavia, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in the Croatian diaspora communities around the world, particularly in North and South America, where many individuals with this surname immigrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vukelich

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

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

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

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