2000
#13,604
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,047
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.76
Rare Last name
Althouse
Derived from German, referring to someone who lived in an old house or came from the town of Althaus.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,088 Americans carry the last name Althouse. That puts it at #15,493 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.61 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 164,154 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Althouse 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
2.1K
1 in 164,154
Census rank
#15,493
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,821 bearers of the surname Althouse in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.61 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15493rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Althouse, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Althouse
The surname Althouse is of German origin, with its earliest recorded instances tracing back to the 16th century. The name is derived from the German words "alt" meaning "old" and "haus" meaning "house," suggesting that the original bearers of this surname may have lived in an older or established dwelling.
One of the earliest mentions of the Althouse name can be found in the records of the town of Meiningen, located in the present-day state of Thuringia, Germany, where a certain Johann Althouse was listed as a resident in 1572. The name also appears in various church records and legal documents from the same region during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
In the 18th century, the Althouse surname began to spread beyond its German roots as families emigrated to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. Notable individuals bearing this name include Johann Jakob Althouse, a German-born clockmaker who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the mid-1700s and whose intricate timepieces are now highly prized by collectors.
Another prominent figure was Friedrich Althouse, a German-American painter and illustrator born in 1832 in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. He is renowned for his detailed works depicting scenes from the American Civil War, in which he served as a Union soldier.
In the literary realm, Susanna Althouse was a 19th-century German author and poet, born in 1842 in the town of Wiesbaden. Her collection of poems, "Blumen aus dem Rheingau" (Flowers from the Rhine District), published in 1875, received critical acclaim for its vivid descriptions of the regional landscapes and traditions.
Moving into the 20th century, William Althouse, born in 1892 in Pennsylvania, was a notable American choral conductor and music educator. He founded the Althouse Choir, which performed extensively throughout the United States and earned a reputation for its interpretations of sacred and secular choral works.
Finally, Johann Althouse, a German-born architect who lived from 1854 to 1927, left a lasting legacy through his design of numerous public buildings and private residences in the Baroque Revival style, primarily in the city of Munich and its surrounding areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Althouse
Among Census respondents with the surname Althouse, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Althouse 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 Althouse surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.0% · 1,730
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 38
- Two or more races1.7% · 31
- Black or African American0.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Althouse
Althouse 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
#14,599
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,039
-8 bearers (-0.4%)
Per 100,000 0.69
Rank movement Down 995 places
2020
#15,493
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,821
-218 bearers (-10.7%)
Per 100,000 0.61
Rank movement Down 894 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,604 | 2,047 | 0.76 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,599 | 2,039 | 0.69 | -8 bearers (-0.4%) | Down 995 places |
| 2020 | #15,493 | 1,821 | 0.61 | -218 bearers (-10.7%) | Down 894 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 Althouse 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 | #14,599 | #15,493 | -6.1% |
| Count | 2,039 | 1,821 | -10.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.69 | 0.61 | -11.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Althouse bearers went from 2,039 to 1,821 (-10.7% change). The surname moved down 894 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,599 to #15,493.
FAQ
Althouse surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Althouse?
Name Census estimates that about 2,088 living Americans carry the surname Althouse. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 164,154 residents.
How common is Althouse?
Althouse ranks #15,493 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.61 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 1,821 people with the surname Althouse. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,088), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.61 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.61 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 Althouse.
Has Althouse become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Althouse went from 2,039 recorded bearers to 1,821. That is a decrease of 218 (-10.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,599 to #15,493.
What does the Census say about the background of Althouse?
Among Census respondents with the surname Althouse, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.1%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Althouse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.0% (1,730 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Althouse appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.0%), Hispanic (2.1%), Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Althouse (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 Althouse mean?
Derived from German, referring to someone who lived in an old house or came from the town of Althaus. 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 Althouse (0.61 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 Althouse?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Althouse, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.