2000
#130,443
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Yeskey
A name derived from a Russian nickname based on the word "yesenka," meaning small, young ash tree.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 126 Americans carry the last name Yeskey. That puts it at #149,446 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,720,273 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Yeskey 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
126
1 in 2,720,273
Census rank
#149,446
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
110
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 110 bearers of the surname Yeskey in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 149446th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Yeskey, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Yeskey
The surname Yeskey is relatively rare and its precise origins and meaning are somewhat obscure. The name likely has Eastern European roots, potentially originating in regions such as Poland, Slovakia, or Hungary. The name could be derived from various phonetic spellings of Eastern European surnames that were Anglicized upon immigration to English-speaking countries.
The earliest references to similar surnames appear in medieval records from the 15th and 16th centuries. In those regions, names often evolved from personal characteristics, occupations, or geographical locations. Linguistic shifts and adaptations when families migrated or records were translated can result in variations like Yeskey.
One of the earliest recorded examples of a similar name can be found in mid-16th-century church records in what is now Poland, with variations including Jeski and Jeske. These variations suggest a Slavic linguistic origin, with potential ties to personal names or diminutives formed with the suffix keyski or jeski, referring to Jesko, a diminutive form of a given name.
A notable historical figure with a variant of this surname is Johann Jeske, a German-born theologian and scholar, whose works in Lutheran theology were significant in the late 17th century. Born in 1633 and dying in 1695, Jeske contributed to religious discourse in Germany and neighboring countries.
In the early 19th century, records show a Peter Yeskey, an immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania, United States. He is one of the earliest individuals with this exact spelling to appear in American records, likely arriving around the 1820s or 1830s amidst waves of European immigration. His descendants helped to establish a small but persistent lineage within the U.S.
Another notable historical figure is Maria Yeskey, a mid-19th-century artist known for her landscape paintings that depicted the scenery of the American Midwest. Born in 1842, she lived until 1910 and left a legacy in regional art history.
In the late 19th century, a political figure named Emil Yeskey held local office in Hungary prior to significant migrations around 1890. He served as a regional representative and his name appears in several documents related to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Lastly, Samuel Yeskey, a 20th-century industrialist born in 1878, contributed significantly to early automotive manufacturing in Detroit, Michigan. His innovations in assembly line processes were crucial to the burgeoning car industry.
The surname Yeskey, though rare, encapsulates a history of migration, adaptation, and integration within various global contexts, reflecting the mutable nature of naming traditions and the personal histories they carry.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yeskey
Among Census respondents with the surname Yeskey, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Yeskey 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 Yeskey surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.3% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Yeskey
Yeskey 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
#132,206
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 128
+8 bearers (+6.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 1,763 places
2020
#149,446
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
-18 bearers (-14.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 17,240 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #130,443 | 120 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #132,206 | 128 | 0.04 | +8 bearers (+6.7%) | Down 1,763 places |
| 2020 | #149,446 | 110 | 0.04 | -18 bearers (-14.1%) | Down 17,240 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 Yeskey 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 | #132,206 | #149,446 | -13.0% |
| Count | 128 | 110 | -14.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Yeskey bearers went from 128 to 110 (-14.1% change). The surname moved down 17,240 positions in the national ranking, going from #132,206 to #149,446.
FAQ
Yeskey surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Yeskey?
Name Census estimates that about 126 living Americans carry the surname Yeskey. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,720,273 residents.
How common is Yeskey?
Yeskey ranks #149,446 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 110 people with the surname Yeskey. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (126), 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 Yeskey.
Has Yeskey become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Yeskey went from 128 recorded bearers to 110. That is a decrease of 18 (-14.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #132,206 to #149,446.
What does the Census say about the background of Yeskey?
Among Census respondents with the surname Yeskey, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Yeskey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.3% (107 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Yeskey appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (97.3%), Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Yeskey (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 Yeskey mean?
A name derived from a Russian nickname based on the word "yesenka," meaning small, young ash tree. 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 Yeskey (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 Americans have the surname Yeskey?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.