Explore the Family Name Pelka

The meaning of Pelka

1. Polish (Pełka): from a shortened pet form of the Old Polish personal name Świętopełk or a similar name. 2. Jewish (from Poland; Pełka): habitational name from Pełki in Poland. Some characteristic forenames: Polish Andrzej, Jacek, Jozef, Lucjan, Wladyslaw, Zbigniew.

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

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

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Pelka saw a slight shift between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Pelka ranked as the 36,672nd most popular surname in the United States with approximately 575 individuals bearing this name. By 2010, the rank had dropped to 38,050th place, marking a decrease of 3.76%. However, despite the drop in ranking, the number of people with the surname Pelka actually increased slightly by 1.39% to 583 individuals. This resulted in a minor decrease in the proportion of the surname per 100k people from 0.21 in 2000 to 0.2 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#36,672	#38,050	-3.76%
Count	575	583	1.39%
Proportion per 100k	0.21	0.2	-4.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pelka

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of individuals with the surname Pelka identified as White in both 2000 and 2010. There was a marginal decrease in this percentage from 96.52% to 95.54% over the decade. The second largest ethnic identity group was those identifying as Hispanic, which saw an increase from 1.91% to 2.92%. The proportion of people identifying as belonging to two or more races decreased slightly from 1.57% to 1.37%. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.52%	95.54%	-1.02%
Hispanic	1.91%	2.92%	52.88%
Two or More Races	1.57%	1.37%	-12.74%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%