Explore the Family Name Hornak

The meaning of Hornak

Czech and Slovak (Horňák; Slovak also Hornák, Horňak); Rusyn (from Slovakia; Horňák and Horňak): topographic name for someone who lived in the mountains, from Czech horňák (Slovak standard form is horniak, Rusyn hornyak) ‘highlander’, itself from hora ‘mountain, hill’. In Slovakia, however, horniak is also the name for an inhabitant of the upper part of Slovakia, named Horniaky (from horný ‘upper’). Compare Hornack and Hornyak.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Hornak in the United States?

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Hornak has decreased slightly over a decade. In 2000, the surname ranked 26,361 in popularity with 871 individuals carrying this last name. By 2010, the rank had dropped to 28,587, with the count also decreasing to 834, a change of -4.25%. These figures indicate a -8.44% change in rank and a -12.5% change in proportion per 100,000 population.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#26,361	#28,587	-8.44%
Count	871	834	-4.25%
Proportion per 100k	0.32	0.28	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Hornak

On the subject of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some changes over the span of a decade. The majority of individuals with the Hornak surname identify as White, with a minor decrease from 97.36% in 2000 to 97.12% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Hispanic saw an increase from 1.26% to 1.80%. Those who identified with two or more races experienced a decrease, dropping from 0.80% to 0.60%. The percentages for Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native remained at zero for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.36%	97.12%	-0.25%
Hispanic	1.26%	1.8%	42.86%
Two or More Races	0.8%	0.6%	-25%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%