2000
#5,465
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,856
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.17
Rare Last name
Baumgardner
An occupational surname referring to an orchard owner or someone who tended to fruit trees.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,391 Americans carry the last name Baumgardner. That puts it at #5,951 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.86 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 53,631 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Baumgardner 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
6.4K
1 in 53,631
Census rank
#5,951
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,573 bearers of the surname Baumgardner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.86 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5951st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Baumgardner, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Baumgardner
The surname Baumgardner originated in Germany, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. The name is derived from the German words "Baum," meaning tree, and "Garten," meaning garden, indicating that the earliest bearers of this name were likely involved in horticulture or lived near an orchard or garden.
One of the earliest documented references to the name Baumgardner can be found in the parish records of the town of Worms, in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. In 1587, a man named Hans Baumgardner was recorded as a resident of the town, working as a gardener.
As the name spread across German-speaking regions, various spellings emerged, including Baumgartner, Baumgarten, and Baumgärter. These variations reflect regional dialects and the evolution of the German language over time.
In the 17th century, the Baumgardner surname appeared in several notable historical records. In 1629, a man named Johann Baumgardner was listed as a member of the Guild of Gardeners in the city of Nuremberg. Additionally, a document from 1678 mentions a Baumgardner family residing in the town of Heidelberg.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the Baumgardner surname. One of the earliest was Johann Baumgardner (1602-1674), a German botanist and horticulturist who authored several works on gardening and plant cultivation.
In the 18th century, Johann Gottfried Baumgardner (1712-1788) was a prominent German architect and urban planner, known for his work on several public buildings and urban development projects in Berlin.
The 19th century saw the rise of Friedrich Baumgardner (1823-1898), a German-American soldier and politician who served as a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War and later held political offices in Ohio.
In the field of literature, Karl Baumgardner (1867-1931) was a German poet and playwright whose works explored themes of nature and rural life.
More recently, Hans Baumgardner (1915-1993) was a German-born American entrepreneur and businessman who founded a successful transportation company in the United States after immigrating in the 1930s.
While these are just a few examples, the Baumgardner surname has a rich history spanning centuries and continents, reflecting the diverse experiences and contributions of its bearers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Baumgardner
Among Census respondents with the surname Baumgardner, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Baumgardner 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 Baumgardner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 5,092
- Two or more races3.6% · 201
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 169
- Black or African American1.2% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 18
Timeline
Historical Census data for Baumgardner
Baumgardner 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
#5,869
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,877
+21 bearers (+0.4%)
Per 100,000 1.99
Rank movement Down 404 places
2020
#5,951
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,573
-304 bearers (-5.2%)
Per 100,000 1.86
Rank movement Down 82 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,465 | 5,856 | 2.17 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,869 | 5,877 | 1.99 | +21 bearers (+0.4%) | Down 404 places |
| 2020 | #5,951 | 5,573 | 1.86 | -304 bearers (-5.2%) | Down 82 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 Baumgardner 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 | #5,869 | #5,951 | -1.4% |
| Count | 5,877 | 5,573 | -5.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.99 | 1.86 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Baumgardner bearers went from 5,877 to 5,573 (-5.2% change). The surname moved down 82 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,869 to #5,951.
FAQ
Baumgardner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Baumgardner?
Name Census estimates that about 6,391 living Americans carry the surname Baumgardner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 53,631 residents.
How common is Baumgardner?
Baumgardner ranks #5,951 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.86 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 5,573 people with the surname Baumgardner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,391), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.86 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.86 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 Baumgardner.
Has Baumgardner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Baumgardner went from 5,877 recorded bearers to 5,573. That is a decrease of 304 (-5.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,869 to #5,951.
What does the Census say about the background of Baumgardner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Baumgardner, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.0%). 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 Baumgardner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (5,092 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Baumgardner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.4%), Two or More Races (3.6%), Hispanic (3.0%). 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 Baumgardner (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 Baumgardner mean?
An occupational surname referring to an orchard owner or someone who tended to fruit trees. 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 Baumgardner (1.86 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 Baumgardner?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.