2000
#1,904
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,328
First available Census row
Per 100,000 6.42
Uncommon Last name
Bauman
A German and Jewish occupational surname referring to a person who worked as a builder or construction worker.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 19,297 Americans carry the last name Bauman. That puts it at #2,088 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.63 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 17,762 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bauman 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
19K
1 in 17,762
Census rank
#2,088
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
17K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 16,828 bearers of the surname Bauman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.63 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2088th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bauman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bauman
The surname BAUMAN is of German origin, deriving from the word "bau" which means "to cultivate" or "to build". It originated in the 14th century as an occupational name for someone who worked as a builder or farmer.
The earliest recorded instance of the name BAUMAN comes from the town of Bayreuth in Bavaria, Germany, where a "Hans Bauman" is mentioned in a 1387 municipal record. Other early spellings of the name include Baumann, Bawman, and Bouwman.
In the 15th century, a Johann Bauman was recorded as a master builder who worked on the construction of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. His son, also named Johann Bauman, continued the family trade and oversaw the completion of the cathedral's famous tiled roof in 1433.
The BAUMAN name appears in several other historical records from various regions of Germany and neighboring countries. For example, a "Peter Bauman" is listed as a landowner in the 1497 tax records of the town of Marburg, in what is now the state of Hesse.
One of the earliest known bearers of the BAUMAN name in North America was Hans Bauman, who arrived in Pennsylvania from the Palatinate region of Germany in 1727. He settled in what is now Lancaster County and worked as a farmer.
Notable people with the surname BAUMAN include Nicolaus Bauman (1598-1644), a German poet and theologian; Johann Bauman (1833-1910), a Swiss horticulturist and botanist; and Zygmunt Bauman (1925-2017), a Polish-British sociologist and philosopher.
Other historically significant individuals with the BAUMAN surname were Gottlieb Bauman (1765-1845), a German-American farmer and Revolutionary War veteran; and Anna Bauman (1789-1876), one of the first female settlers in the Oregon Territory of the United States.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bauman
Among Census respondents with the surname Bauman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Bauman 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 Bauman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 15,500
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 490
- Two or more races2.9% · 483
- Black or African American0.9% · 149
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 130
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 76
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bauman
Bauman 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
#2,040
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 17,641
+313 bearers (+1.8%)
Per 100,000 5.98
Rank movement Down 136 places
2020
#2,088
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,828
-813 bearers (-4.6%)
Per 100,000 5.63
Rank movement Down 48 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,904 | 17,328 | 6.42 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,040 | 17,641 | 5.98 | +313 bearers (+1.8%) | Down 136 places |
| 2020 | #2,088 | 16,828 | 5.63 | -813 bearers (-4.6%) | Down 48 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 Bauman 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 | #2,040 | #2,088 | -2.4% |
| Count | 17,641 | 16,828 | -4.6% |
| Per 100K | 5.98 | 5.63 | -5.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bauman bearers went from 17,641 to 16,828 (-4.6% change). The surname moved down 48 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,040 to #2,088.
FAQ
Bauman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bauman?
Name Census estimates that about 19,297 living Americans carry the surname Bauman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 17,762 residents.
How common is Bauman?
Bauman ranks #2,088 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.63 per 100,000 residents, which is about 6 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 16,828 people with the surname Bauman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (19,297), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.63 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.63 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 6 of them to have the surname Bauman.
Has Bauman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bauman went from 17,641 recorded bearers to 16,828. That is a decrease of 813 (-4.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,040 to #2,088.
What does the Census say about the background of Bauman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bauman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Bauman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (15,500 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bauman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Hispanic (2.9%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Bauman (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 Bauman mean?
A German and Jewish occupational surname referring to a person who worked as a builder or construction worker. 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 Bauman (5.63 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 share the surname Bauman?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.