2000
#43,463
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 468
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.17
Very Rare Last name
Mihalic
A surname of Croatian origin possibly denoting someone from the village of Mihalić.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 511 Americans carry the last name Mihalic. That puts it at #50,632 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.15 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 670,752 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mihalic surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
511
1 in 670,752
Census rank
#50,632
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
446
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 446 bearers of the surname Mihalic in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.15 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 50632nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mihalic, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mihalic
The surname MIHALIC originated in Croatia and the surrounding Slavic regions during the medieval period. It is derived from the Slavic given name Mihal, which is a variant of the biblical name Michael meaning "who is like God." The earliest known spelling variations of the name include Mihalich, Michalić, and Mihaljević.
MIHALIC is a Croatian patronymic surname, meaning it was originally formed by adding a possessive suffix to the given name Mihal, indicating "son of Mihal." This naming convention was common practice across Slavic cultures during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest known references to the MIHALIC surname can be found in a 14th-century Latin document from the Archdiocese of Split, Croatia, where a certain "Michaelis Mihalich" is mentioned as a witness in a land dispute.
In the 16th century, a noble family by the name of MIHALIC is recorded as landowners in the region around the town of Karlovac, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A prominent member of this family, Ivan MIHALIC (1545-1616), served as a military officer and diplomat for the Habsburg monarchy.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the MIHALIC surname spread throughout the Balkans and Central Europe, with notable bearers including Matija MIHALIC (1680-1749), a Croatian Catholic priest and theologian, and Petar MIHALIC (1718-1788), a Serbian Orthodox icon painter and fresco artist.
In the 19th century, a branch of the MIHALIC family settled in the Vojvodina region of modern-day Serbia, where they became prominent landowners and industrialists. Jovan MIHALIC (1815-1890), a wealthy Serb entrepreneur, founded one of the first steam mills in the city of Novi Sad.
Other notable individuals with the surname MIHALIC include Franjo MIHALIC (1889-1975), a Croatian sculptor and academic who taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, and Zvonimir MIHALIC (1925-2002), a Croatian football player who represented Yugoslavia at the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mihalic
Among Census respondents with the surname Mihalic, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Mihalic bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Mihalic surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.4% · 412
- Two or more races3.4% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 3
- Black or African American0.2% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mihalic
Mihalic appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#42,858
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 505
+37 bearers (+7.9%)
Per 100,000 0.17
Rank movement Up 605 places
2020
#50,632
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 446
-59 bearers (-11.7%)
Per 100,000 0.15
Rank movement Down 7,774 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #43,463 | 468 | 0.17 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #42,858 | 505 | 0.17 | +37 bearers (+7.9%) | Up 605 places |
| 2020 | #50,632 | 446 | 0.15 | -59 bearers (-11.7%) | Down 7,774 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Mihalic surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #42,858 | #50,632 | -18.1% |
| Count | 505 | 446 | -11.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.17 | 0.15 | -12.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mihalic bearers went from 505 to 446 (-11.7% change). The surname moved down 7,774 positions in the national ranking, going from #42,858 to #50,632.
FAQ
Mihalic surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mihalic?
Name Census estimates that about 511 living Americans carry the surname Mihalic. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 670,752 residents.
How common is Mihalic?
Mihalic ranks #50,632 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.15 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 446 people with the surname Mihalic. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (511), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.15 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.15 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Mihalic.
Has Mihalic become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mihalic went from 505 recorded bearers to 446. That is a decrease of 59 (-11.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #42,858 to #50,632.
What does the Census say about the background of Mihalic?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mihalic, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.1%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Mihalic in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (412 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mihalic appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.4%), Two or More Races (3.4%), Hispanic (3.1%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Mihalic (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Mihalic mean?
A surname of Croatian origin possibly denoting someone from the village of Mihalić. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Mihalic (0.15 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Mihalic?
Want to know how many Americans have the surname Mihalic? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.