2000
#12,711
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,231
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.83
Rare Last name
Wojtowicz
Derived from the Polish word "wójt," an occupational surname referring to a village leader or bailiff.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,647 Americans carry the last name Wojtowicz. That puts it at #12,762 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.77 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 129,488 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wojtowicz 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Wojtowicz with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.6K
1 in 129,488
Census rank
#12,762
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,308 bearers of the surname Wojtowicz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.77 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12762nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wojtowicz, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (1.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wojtowicz
The surname Wojtowicz is of Polish origin and can be traced back to the 14th century. It is derived from the Polish word "wojt," which means a village administrator, mayor, or reeve. The suffix "-owicz" indicates a patronymic form, suggesting that the name originally referred to the son of a village administrator.
The name is believed to have originated in the regions of Silesia and Lesser Poland, areas that were part of the Kingdom of Poland during the Middle Ages. Variants of the spelling include Woytowicz, Wojtowycz, and Wojtovich, reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and orthography.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 1381 Księga Ławnicza (Bench Book) of Krakow, which mentions a certain Maciej Wojtowicz. This document, a record of legal proceedings in the city, provides valuable insight into the use and prevalence of surnames in medieval Poland.
In the 16th century, the name appears in the Metryka Koronna (Crown Metrica), a collection of official documents from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Entries from this period include Jan Wojtowicz, a landowner from the Lublin region, and Marcin Wojtowicz, a burgher from the city of Lviv (now in Ukraine).
Notable individuals with the surname Wojtowicz include:
1. Stanisław Wojtowicz (1725-1793), a Polish painter and artist known for his religious and historical works.
2. Jan Wojtowicz (1810-1875), a Polish poet and writer who contributed to the development of the Polish Romantic literary movement.
3. Tadeusz Wojtowicz (1893-1944), a Polish military officer who fought in both World Wars and was executed by the Nazis during the Warsaw Uprising.
4. Karol Wojtowicz (1904-1982), a Polish architect and urban planner who played a significant role in the reconstruction of Warsaw after World War II.
5. Wojciech Wojtowicz (born 1957), a Polish writer and journalist known for his works on environmental issues and sustainable development.
The name Wojtowicz has also been associated with various place names in Poland, such as the village of Wojtowice (formerly Wojtowice Stare) in the Silesian Voivodeship and the town of Wojtowiczki in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, further underscoring its historical roots in the region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wojtowicz
Among Census respondents with the surname Wojtowicz, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (1.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Wojtowicz 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 Wojtowicz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.9% · 2,190
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 63
- Two or more races1.2% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
- Black or African American0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wojtowicz
Wojtowicz 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
#13,073
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,349
+118 bearers (+5.3%)
Per 100,000 0.80
Rank movement Down 362 places
2020
#12,762
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,308
-41 bearers (-1.7%)
Per 100,000 0.77
Rank movement Up 311 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,711 | 2,231 | 0.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,073 | 2,349 | 0.80 | +118 bearers (+5.3%) | Down 362 places |
| 2020 | #12,762 | 2,308 | 0.77 | -41 bearers (-1.7%) | Up 311 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 Wojtowicz 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 | #13,073 | #12,762 | 2.4% |
| Count | 2,349 | 2,308 | -1.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.80 | 0.77 | -3.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wojtowicz bearers went from 2,349 to 2,308 (-1.7% change). The surname moved up 311 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,073 to #12,762.
FAQ
Wojtowicz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wojtowicz?
Name Census estimates that about 2,647 living Americans carry the surname Wojtowicz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 129,488 residents.
How common is Wojtowicz?
Wojtowicz ranks #12,762 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.77 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,308 people with the surname Wojtowicz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,647), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.77 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.77 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Wojtowicz.
Has Wojtowicz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wojtowicz went from 2,349 recorded bearers to 2,308. That is a decrease of 41 (-1.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #13,073 to #12,762.
What does the Census say about the background of Wojtowicz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wojtowicz, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (1.2%). 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 Wojtowicz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.9% (2,190 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wojtowicz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.9%), Hispanic (2.7%), Two or More Races (1.2%). 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 Wojtowicz (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 Wojtowicz mean?
Derived from the Polish word "wójt," an occupational surname referring to a village leader or bailiff. 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 Wojtowicz (0.77 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 Wojtowicz?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.