2000
#5,176
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,205
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.30
Rare Last name
Alberts
A patronymic surname derived from the given name Albert, meaning "noble" or "bright."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,847 Americans carry the last name Alberts. That puts it at #5,615 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.00 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 50,059 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Alberts 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Alberts with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.8K
1 in 50,059
Census rank
#5,615
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,971 bearers of the surname Alberts in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.00 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5615th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Alberts, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Alberts
The surname Alberts is of Dutch, German, and English origin, derived from the personal name Albert, which is a Germanic name composed of the elements "adal" meaning noble, and "beraht" meaning bright or shining. This name was popularized by the medieval saint and philosopher Albertus Magnus, born in 1193 in Lauingen, Germany.
The earliest known record of the name Alberts dates back to the 12th century in the Dutch province of Friesland, where it was spelled as "Aelbrecht". During this time, the name was also found in various forms such as "Albrecht", "Albrechts", and "Aubrey" in different regions of Germany and England.
In the 13th century, the name Alberts appeared in the Domesday Book, a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry mentions a landowner named "Albertus" holding lands in Oxfordshire.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Hendrik Alberts, a Dutch merchant who lived in Amsterdam in the late 15th century. He was involved in the lucrative spice trade with the East Indies and is mentioned in several historical records from that period.
In the 16th century, the name was associated with the Alberti family, a prominent Italian banking dynasty from Florence. The most notable member was Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), a Renaissance humanist, author, artist, architect, and philosopher.
Another historical figure with the surname Alberts was Johannes Alberts (1597-1679), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his landscapes and cityscapes. Some of his notable works include "View of Leiden" and "Winter Landscape with Skaters".
In the 18th century, John Alberts (1732-1805) was a British architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London, including the iconic Somerset House.
The 19th century saw the emergence of Jacobus Hendrikus van't Hoff Alberts (1852-1911), a Dutch physical chemist and the first recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901 for his pioneering work on chemical kinetics and osmotic pressure.
Overall, the surname Alberts has a rich history spanning multiple countries and centuries, with various notable bearers contributing to various fields such as art, architecture, science, and commerce.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alberts
Among Census respondents with the surname Alberts, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Alberts 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 Alberts surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.2% · 5,269
- Two or more races3.4% · 202
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 201
- Black or African American2.4% · 144
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 104
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 51
Timeline
Historical Census data for Alberts
Alberts 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
#5,578
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,229
+24 bearers (+0.4%)
Per 100,000 2.11
Rank movement Down 402 places
2020
#5,615
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,971
-258 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 2.00
Rank movement Down 37 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,176 | 6,205 | 2.30 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,578 | 6,229 | 2.11 | +24 bearers (+0.4%) | Down 402 places |
| 2020 | #5,615 | 5,971 | 2.00 | -258 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 37 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 Alberts 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 | #5,578 | #5,615 | -0.7% |
| Count | 6,229 | 5,971 | -4.1% |
| Per 100K | 2.11 | 2.00 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Alberts bearers went from 6,229 to 5,971 (-4.1% change). The surname moved down 37 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,578 to #5,615.
FAQ
Alberts surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Alberts?
Name Census estimates that about 6,847 living Americans carry the surname Alberts. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 50,059 residents.
How common is Alberts?
Alberts ranks #5,615 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.00 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,971 people with the surname Alberts. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,847), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.00 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Alberts.
Has Alberts become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Alberts went from 6,229 recorded bearers to 5,971. That is a decrease of 258 (-4.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,578 to #5,615.
What does the Census say about the background of Alberts?
Among Census respondents with the surname Alberts, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Alberts in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.2% (5,269 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Alberts appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.2%), Two or More Races (3.4%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Alberts (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 Alberts mean?
A patronymic surname derived from the given name Albert, meaning "noble" or "bright." 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 Alberts (2.00 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 Alberts?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Alberts on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.