2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Bilharz
A German surname derived from a place name, likely referring to someone from a place called Bilharz.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 124 Americans carry the last name Bilharz. That puts it at #150,935 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,764,148 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Bilharz 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
124
1 in 2,764,148
Census rank
#150,935
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
108
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 108 bearers of the surname Bilharz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150935th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Bilharz, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Bilharz
The surname Bilharz is of German origin, dating back to the late 16th century. It is believed to have originated in the region of Saxony-Anhalt, located in central Germany. The name is derived from the German word "Bilse," which refers to a type of edible plant commonly known as "hog's fennel" or "sea fennel."
The earliest recorded instances of the Bilharz surname can be found in various church records and municipal documents from the late 1500s and early 1600s. One of the earliest known mentions is in the baptismal records of St. Nikolai Church in the town of Eilenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, where a child named Hans Bilharz was christened in 1598.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Bilharz name appeared in various documents and records across Saxony-Anhalt and neighboring regions. In 1673, a Johann Bilharz was recorded as a landowner in the village of Dölau, near the city of Halle. Another notable bearer of the name was Christian Bilharz, a master carpenter born in 1712 in the town of Bitterfeld.
One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Bilharz to achieve historical significance was Johann Gottfried Bilharz (1758-1825), a German jurist and legal scholar. He served as a professor of law at the University of Leipzig and was widely respected for his contributions to the field of jurisprudence.
In the 19th century, the Bilharz name gained international recognition through the work of Theodor Bilharz (1825-1862), a renowned German physician and naturalist. Bilharz is best known for his discovery of a parasitic worm that causes a disease known as bilharziasis or schistosomiasis, which is now named after him.
Another notable figure was Gustav Bilharz (1836-1892), a German architect and urban planner. He was responsible for designing several notable buildings in Berlin, including the Reichsbank and the Prussian State Library.
While the Bilharz surname originated in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to migration and diaspora. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several individuals with the Bilharz name emigrated to the United States, where they and their descendants have contributed to various fields and professions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bilharz
Among Census respondents with the surname Bilharz, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Bilharz 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 Bilharz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 108
Timeline
Historical Census data for Bilharz
Bilharz 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
#146,201
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,418 places
2020
#150,935
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
-5 bearers (-4.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 4,734 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #136,783 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #146,201 | 113 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 9,418 places |
| 2020 | #150,935 | 108 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-4.4%) | Down 4,734 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 Bilharz 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 | #146,201 | #150,935 | -3.2% |
| Count | 113 | 108 | -4.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Bilharz bearers went from 113 to 108 (-4.4% change). The surname moved down 4,734 positions in the national ranking, going from #146,201 to #150,935.
FAQ
Bilharz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Bilharz?
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the surname Bilharz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,764,148 residents.
How common is Bilharz?
Bilharz ranks #150,935 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 108 people with the surname Bilharz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (124), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Bilharz.
Has Bilharz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Bilharz went from 113 recorded bearers to 108. That is a decrease of 5 (-4.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #146,201 to #150,935.
What does the Census say about the background of Bilharz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Bilharz, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%. 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 Bilharz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (108 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Bilharz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (100.0%). 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 Bilharz (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 Bilharz mean?
A German surname derived from a place name, likely referring to someone from a place called Bilharz. 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 Bilharz (0.04 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 Americans have the surname Bilharz?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.