Explore the Family Name Patak

The meaning of Patak

1. Hungarian: either a topographic name from patak ‘creek’ or a habitational name from any of several places called with this word, which is of Slavic origin (from potok). 2. Czech and Slovak (Paták): nickname from Czech paták, the name of an old small coin (literally ‘fiver’; it was at one time worth five groschen).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Patak experienced a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname ranked 47,210 in terms of frequency, but dropped to 52,619 by 2010, a decline of approximately 11.46%. The total count of individuals bearing the Patak surname also saw a decrease from 423 to 394 during this period, corresponding to a reduction of about 6.86%. Proportionally, for every 100,000 people in the U.S., there were 0.16 named Patak in 2000, and this figure decreased by 18.75% to 0.13 by 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#47,210	#52,619	-11.46%
Count	423	394	-6.86%
Proportion per 100k	0.16	0.13	-18.75%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Patak

When considering ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census indicates that the majority of people with the Patak surname identified as White in both 2000 and 2010, although there was a small decrease from 95.98% to 93.4%. There was a significant increase in those identifying their ethnic identity as Asian/Pacific Islander, jumping from 1.89% in 2000 to 3.81% in 2010 -- an increase of over 100%. Hispanics bearing the Patak surname also saw a rise in numbers, up by 60.56% from 1.42% in 2000 to 2.28% in 2010. No changes were reported for those identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.98%	93.4%	-2.69%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.89%	3.81%	101.59%
Hispanic	1.42%	2.28%	60.56%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%