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

Zaretsky, 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 Zaretsky surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zaretsky in America

Zaretsky is the 38582nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zaretsky surname appeared 573 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 Zaretsky.

We can also compare 2010 data for Zaretsky 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 Zaretsky

The surname Zaretsky originates from Eastern Europe, predominantly found in the regions of modern-day Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The name is of Slavic origin, deriving from the word "zarechie," which literally means "beyond the river" in Russian. This suggests that bearers of this surname were originally associated with settlements or lands situated on the other side of a river, a common geographic feature in Slavic territories.

In terms of historical references, the surname Zaretsky began to appear in written records and manuscripts during the late medieval period. Early examples can be traced back to church records and landowner registries in the 16th and 17th centuries within the Russian Empire. The spelling has remained relatively consistent, although variants such as Zaretski and Zaretzky also exist depending on the transliteration from Cyrillic to Latin script.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname dates back to a 1648 document in which Ivan Zaretsky is listed as a landowner in the Smolensk region of Russia. Another notable mention is found in the church records of Kiev, Ukraine, where a certain Dimitry Zaretsky was baptized in 1702. These early instances illustrate the name's distribution across Eastern European regions.

The surname has also been associated with several prominent historical figures. Evgeny Zaretsky (1860-1925) was a renowned Russian botanist who made significant contributions to the study of Russian flora. Boris Zaretsky (1894-1975), a Russian revolutionary and later a Soviet diplomat, played a crucial role in the early diplomatic missions of the Soviet Union.

In Belarus, the name gained prominence through Mikhail Zaretsky (1896-1937), a celebrated Belarusian author and poet who was part of the Belarusian cultural renaissance in the early 20th century. His works remain influential in Belarusian literature.

Another noteworthy individual is Alexander Zaretsky (b. 1947), a Russian mathematician and academic whose contributions to theoretical mathematics were recognized with various scientific awards during the late 20th century. His academic work helped advance understanding in fields such as algebra and number theory.

Lastly, Valery Zaretsky (1938-2010) was a Soviet and later Russian film director and screenwriter known for his impactful films during the 1970s and 80s. His storytelling and stylistic approach left a lasting mark on Soviet-era cinema, and his works are still studied and appreciated in film schools.

The surname Zaretsky has a rich and varied history across Eastern Europe, with contributions to a wide range of fields from science and literature to politics and the arts over several centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zaretsky

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

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

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

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