2000
#142,819
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Welenc
Of Slovenian origin referring to one who heralds or announces.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 124 Americans carry the last name Welenc. That puts it at #150,935 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,764,148 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Welenc 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
124
1 in 2,764,148
Census rank
#150,935
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
108
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 108 bearers of the surname Welenc in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150935th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Welenc, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Welenc
The surname WELENC has its origins in the Slavic regions of Central and Eastern Europe, with the earliest records dating back to the 14th century. The name is believed to be derived from the Slavic root "vel," meaning "great" or "large," and "enc" being a common suffix used to form surnames in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name WELENC appears in a manuscript from the town of Bochnia, located in present-day southern Poland. The document, dated 1376, mentions a certain "Jakub Welenc," who was listed as a landowner in the area.
In the 15th century, the WELENC name was also found in various records from the region of Silesia, which was then part of the Kingdom of Bohemia. One notable individual was Jan Welenc, a merchant who lived in the city of Wrocław (then known as Breslau) around 1450.
The name WELENC is closely linked to several place names in the region, such as the village of Wieleniec in western Poland, which likely derived its name from the same Slavic root. Another possible connection is to the town of Velence in Hungary, which was once inhabited by a Slavic population.
In the 16th century, a branch of the WELENC family settled in the area of modern-day Slovakia, where they became prominent landowners and noblemen. One famous figure from this line was Michal Welenc (1532-1598), a military commander who fought against the Ottoman Empire in the Long War.
As the WELENC name spread across Central and Eastern Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Welenec, Vyelents, and Wieleniec. In the 18th century, a notable bearer of the name was Jakub Welenc (1710-1782), a scholar and theologian from Bohemia who authored several influential works on religion and philosophy.
Other notable individuals with the surname WELENC include Franciszek Welenc (1826-1892), a Polish painter and artist known for his landscapes and portraits, and Zdzisław Welenc (1888-1957), a Polish architect who designed several prominent buildings in Warsaw during the interwar period.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Welenc
Among Census respondents with the surname Welenc, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Welenc 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 Welenc surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 100
- Two or more races4.6% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Welenc
Welenc 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
#139,228
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
+13 bearers (+12.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 3,591 places
2020
#150,935
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
-12 bearers (-10.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 11,707 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #142,819 | 107 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #139,228 | 120 | 0.04 | +13 bearers (+12.1%) | Up 3,591 places |
| 2020 | #150,935 | 108 | 0.04 | -12 bearers (-10.0%) | Down 11,707 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 Welenc 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 | #139,228 | #150,935 | -8.4% |
| Count | 120 | 108 | -10.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Welenc bearers went from 120 to 108 (-10.0% change). The surname moved down 11,707 positions in the national ranking, going from #139,228 to #150,935.
FAQ
Welenc surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Welenc?
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the surname Welenc. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,764,148 residents.
How common is Welenc?
Welenc ranks #150,935 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 108 people with the surname Welenc. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (124), 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 Welenc.
Has Welenc become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Welenc went from 120 recorded bearers to 108. That is a decrease of 12 (-10.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #139,228 to #150,935.
What does the Census say about the background of Welenc?
Among Census respondents with the surname Welenc, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Welenc in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Welenc appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Two or More Races (4.6%), Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Welenc (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 Welenc mean?
Of Slovenian origin referring to one who heralds or announces. 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 Welenc (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 have the surname Welenc?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.