2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Affholder
A German occupational surname derived from the Middle High German word "aphalter," meaning an apple grower or seller.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 116 Americans carry the last name Affholder. That puts it at #155,270 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,954,779 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Affholder 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
116
1 in 2,954,779
Census rank
#155,270
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
101
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 101 bearers of the surname Affholder in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 155270th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Affholder, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Affholder
The surname Affholder is believed to have originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the early 16th century. The name is derived from the Middle High German words "affe" meaning "ape" or "monkey" and "holder" meaning "keeper" or "tender." It is thought to have been an occupational surname given to those who cared for monkeys or apes, perhaps in traveling menageries or circuses.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a registry of births in the town of Bamberg, Bavaria, from the year 1532, which lists a child named Hans Affholder. The name also appears in various church records and tax rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries in the regions of Franconia and Swabia.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name began to spread beyond its original German roots as individuals bearing the surname migrated to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One notable bearer of the name was Johann Affholder, a Protestant theologian born in Nuremberg in 1677, who published several influential works on Christian doctrine.
In the 19th century, the Affholder name can be found in records from the United States, with one of the earliest recorded instances being that of Wilhelm Affholder, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in 1834. Another notable figure from this period was Charles Affholder, a French-born artist and lithographer who lived and worked in New York City in the latter half of the 19th century.
As the 20th century dawned, the surname continued to spread across the globe. One notable bearer was Carl Affholder, a German-American physicist who made significant contributions to the field of optics and was born in Mannheim, Germany, in 1902. Another was Heinz Affholder, a German-born architect and urban planner who worked extensively in South America and was born in Berlin in 1920.
Throughout its history, the Affholder surname has been subject to various spellings and variations, including Affholder, Affolder, Affholter, and Affelder, among others. While the name may have originated as an occupational descriptor, it has since become a proud family name carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Affholder
Among Census respondents with the surname Affholder, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Affholder 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 Affholder surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White99.0% · 100
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Affholder
Affholder appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#155,270
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 101
-2 bearers (-1.9%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 1,964 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #155,270 | 101 | 0.03 | -2 bearers (-1.9%) | Up 1,964 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 Affholder 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 | #157,234 | #155,270 | 1.2% |
| Count | 103 | 101 | -1.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.03 | 12.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Affholder bearers went from 103 to 101 (-1.9% change). The surname moved up 1,964 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #155,270.
FAQ
Affholder surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Affholder?
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the surname Affholder. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,954,779 residents.
How common is Affholder?
Affholder ranks #155,270 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 101 people with the surname Affholder. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (116), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Affholder.
Has Affholder become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Affholder went from 103 recorded bearers to 101. That is a decrease of 2 (-1.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #155,270.
What does the Census say about the background of Affholder?
Among Census respondents with the surname Affholder, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Affholder in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.0% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Affholder appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (99.0%), Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Affholder (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 Affholder mean?
A German occupational surname derived from the Middle High German word "aphalter," meaning an apple grower or seller. 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 Affholder (0.03 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 have the last name Affholder?
Find out how many people are called Affholder on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.