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

Zuk, 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 Zuk surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zuk in America

Zuk is the 21986th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zuk surname appeared 1,180 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 Zuk.

We can also compare 2010 data for Zuk 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 Zuk

The surname Zuk has its origins in Eastern Europe, most notably in Poland and Ukraine. The name is believed to date back to at least the medieval period, around the 14th or 15th century. Typically, Zuk is derived from the Polish word "żuk," which means "beetle." This could have been a nickname for someone perceived to have beetle-like qualities or a reference to someone involved with beetles in some capacity, such as a farmer who dealt with crop pests.

In areas like Poland and Ukraine, surnames often derived from animals were common, used to describe characteristics or occupational roles. The name Zuk fits into this categorization seamlessly. There were variations in spelling, especially in older records, where Zuk might have appeared as Żuk in Polish or Зук in Ukrainian Cyrillic script.

Historical records from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth include the name Zuk, offering evidence of its existence and use. For example, a 16th-century document in Kraków mentions a Jan Żuk, a commoner who was a landholder. This highlights that the surname was present in official records and associated with land ownership or specific localities.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in Ukraine can be found in the 17th-century Cossack registers. These often included names such as Ivan Zuk, who served as a soldier. This indicates the surname's presence in military records, illustrating its historical significance in various social strata.

A notable person bearing the surname Zuk is Jan Zukowski, a 15th-century Polish knight who was known for his valiant service and later contributions to the noble class. Another historical figure is Marek Zuk, a 17th-century Polish architect known for his contributions to Renaissance-style buildings in Eastern Europe.

In more recent history, Natalya Zuk, born in 1944, was a celebrated Ukrainian actress known for her performances in Soviet cinema, showcasing the surname’s presence in the cultural domain. Additionally, Adam Zuk, born in the early 19th century, was a Polish poet and revolutionary, remembered for his contributions to Polish literature and his role in the November Uprising against the Russian Empire.

Another significant historical figure is Ludwik Zuk, an early 20th-century Polish political activist who was heavily involved in the fight for Polish independence and later became a prominent figure in Polish politics post-World War I.

These examples illustrate the diverse contexts in which the surname Zuk has appeared throughout history, encompassing military, cultural, architectural, and political spheres across different centuries. The surname holds a robust presence in archival records, indicating its longstanding relevance and the various roles its bearers have played in history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zuk

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

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

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

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