2000
#9,902
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,005
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.11
Rare Last name
Albaugh
Derived from the German surname Albach, referring to someone who lived by a stream in a marshy area.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,184 Americans carry the last name Albaugh. That puts it at #10,959 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.93 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 107,649 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Albaugh 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
3.2K
1 in 107,649
Census rank
#10,959
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,777 bearers of the surname Albaugh in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.93 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10959th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Albaugh, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Albaugh
The surname Albaugh has its origins in Germany, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old High German words "alb" or "alba," meaning "white" or "bright," and "bach," meaning "stream" or "brook." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a person living near a bright or white stream.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Albaugh name appears in historical documents from the 14th century in the region of Bavaria. It was spelled in various forms, such as Albbach, Albpach, and Albbaugh, reflecting the linguistic evolution and regional variations of the time.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Albaugh family is mentioned in several records and manuscripts, indicating their presence in various parts of Germany. Notable examples include Friedrich Albaugh, a merchant born in 1523 in Nuremberg, and Hans Albaugh, a landowner from Augsburg who lived from 1587 to 1648.
As the name spread across Europe, it also underwent variations in spelling and pronunciation. In the Netherlands, variations such as Albaach and Albagh were recorded, while in France, the name appeared as Albault or Albaud.
One of the earliest documented instances of the Albaugh name in the Americas comes from the records of German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Johann Georg Albaugh, born in 1675 in Hesse, Germany, is believed to be one of the first bearers of the name to arrive in the American colonies.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the Albaugh surname. Johann Albaugh (1712-1789), a German-American farmer and miller, played a prominent role in the early settlement of Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley. Heinrich Albaugh (1817-1892), a German philosopher and writer, made significant contributions to the field of aesthetics.
Other notable figures include Emilie Albaugh (1859-1932), an American educator and suffragist who advocated for women's rights, and Robert Albaugh (1892-1964), a Canadian-American artist known for his landscape paintings depicting the American West.
While the Albaugh name has undergone various spellings and adaptations across different regions and cultures, its origins can be traced back to the German regions of Central Europe, where it likely referred to a person residing near a bright or white stream.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Albaugh
Among Census respondents with the surname Albaugh, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Albaugh 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 Albaugh surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.7% · 2,603
- Two or more races2.6% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 19
- Black or African American0.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Albaugh
Albaugh 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
#10,410
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,094
+89 bearers (+3.0%)
Per 100,000 1.05
Rank movement Down 508 places
2020
#10,959
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,777
-317 bearers (-10.2%)
Per 100,000 0.93
Rank movement Down 549 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,902 | 3,005 | 1.11 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,410 | 3,094 | 1.05 | +89 bearers (+3.0%) | Down 508 places |
| 2020 | #10,959 | 2,777 | 0.93 | -317 bearers (-10.2%) | Down 549 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 Albaugh 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 | #10,410 | #10,959 | -5.3% |
| Count | 3,094 | 2,777 | -10.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.05 | 0.93 | -11.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Albaugh bearers went from 3,094 to 2,777 (-10.2% change). The surname moved down 549 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,410 to #10,959.
FAQ
Albaugh surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Albaugh?
Name Census estimates that about 3,184 living Americans carry the surname Albaugh. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 107,649 residents.
How common is Albaugh?
Albaugh ranks #10,959 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.93 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,777 people with the surname Albaugh. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,184), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.93 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.93 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Albaugh.
Has Albaugh become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Albaugh went from 3,094 recorded bearers to 2,777. That is a decrease of 317 (-10.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,410 to #10,959.
What does the Census say about the background of Albaugh?
Among Census respondents with the surname Albaugh, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Albaugh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (2,603 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Albaugh appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.7%), Two or More Races (2.6%), Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Albaugh (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 Albaugh mean?
Derived from the German surname Albach, referring to someone who lived by a stream in a marshy area. 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 Albaugh (0.93 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 surname Albaugh?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.