Explore the Family Name Petroski

The meaning of Petroski

Americanized form of Polish Pietrowski and Piotrowski, and also a further altered form of Petrowski. Compare Petroske and Petrosky.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Petroski has seen a decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 18,701st most popular surname, but by 2010 it had dropped to the 21,774th spot, representing a decrease of 16.43%. The count of individuals with this surname also decreased from 1,357 in 2000 to 1,194 in 2010, a drop of 12.01%. Correspondingly, the proportion per 100,000 people also saw a reduction from 0.5 in 2000 to 0.4 in 2010 - a 20% decrease.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#18,701	#21,774	-16.43%
Count	1,357	1,194	-12.01%
Proportion per 100k	0.5	0.4	-20%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Petroski

On the topic of ethnicity, Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of individuals named Petroski identify as White. This group experienced a slight dip from 97.57% in 2000 to 95.90% in 2010. Interestingly, there were noticeable increases in the proportions of those identifying as Hispanic and Black. Hispanics with this surname increased from 0.81% in 2000 to 1.84% in 2010, a significant rise of 127.16%. Similarly, the Black community saw an increase from 0.37% to 0.59%, a 59.46% growth. Those identifying with two or more races also rose from 0.81% to 1.17%, a change of 44.44%. However, there were no recorded instances of this surname among Asian/Pacific Islanders or American Indian and Alaskan Natives in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.57%	95.9%	-1.71%
Hispanic	0.81%	1.84%	127.16%
Two or More Races	0.81%	1.17%	44.44%
Black	0.37%	0.59%	59.46%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%