Explore the Family Name Szekely

The meaning of Szekely

Hungarian (Székely): ethnic name for a Szekler (Hungarian székely), a member of a large and culturally distinct Hungarian community in Transylvania, now part of Romania. Some characteristic forenames: Hungarian Bela, Laszlo, Ildiko, Akos, Arpad, Attila, Balint, Csaba, Emese, Gabor, Istvan, Janos.

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

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

The surname Szekely, based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, has seen a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. Ranked as the 24,368th most common name in 2000, it slipped to 25,226th by 2010, reflecting a modest change of -3.52%. Despite this dip in rank, the actual count of individuals with the Szekely surname increased from 963 in 2000 to 982 in 2010, an upward change of 1.97%. However, when considering the proportion per 100,000 people, there was an -8.33% change over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#24,368	#25,226	-3.52%
Count	963	982	1.97%
Proportion per 100k	0.36	0.33	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Szekely

As for the ethnic identity of those carrying the Szekely surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the vast majority identify as white. In 2000, this group represented 96.99% of all Szekelys, a figure that slightly decreased to 95.72% in 2010. Those identifying as Hispanic saw an increase, going from 2.08% in 2000 to 2.75% in 2010. Notably, no Szekelys identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year. The category of two or more races saw a decrease from 0.83% in 2000 to 0.71% in 2010, while those identifying as Black emerged in the 2010 data at 0.51%, after having been recorded as 0% in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.99%	95.72%	-1.31%
Hispanic	2.08%	2.75%	32.21%
Two or More Races	0.83%	0.71%	-14.46%
Black	0%	0.51%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%