2000
#137,816
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Birkmaier
A German surname meaning "from the Birkenau" or "from the birch meadow".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 124 Americans carry the last name Birkmaier. 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 Birkmaier 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 Birkmaier 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 Birkmaier, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Birkmaier
The surname Birkmaier originated in the German-speaking regions of Europe, particularly in Bavaria and southern Germany. It likely emerged as a hereditary surname during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century.
The name Birkmaier is derived from the combination of two German words: "Birk" meaning "birch tree" and "maier" or "meier," which referred to a manager or official of an estate or farm. This suggests that the earliest bearers of this surname may have been stewards, overseers, or administrators associated with estates or manors located near birch trees or birch forests.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Birkmaier can be found in the Bairische Stammtafeln, a collection of genealogical records from Bavaria, dating back to the 15th century. The name is also mentioned in various municipal archives and church records from southern Germany during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Notable individuals with the surname Birkmaier include Johann Birkmaier (1630-1698), a German theologian and author who served as a Lutheran pastor in Nuremberg. Another prominent figure was Philipp Birkmaier (1815-1882), a Bavarian politician and member of the Reichstag, the national parliament of the German Empire.
In the 18th century, a family of Birkmaiers settled in the village of Kirchberg an der Jagst in Württemberg, where they established a successful brewery. The most renowned member of this branch was Georg Birkmaier (1787-1866), a respected brewer and entrepreneur.
Other historical figures bearing the surname Birkmaier include Friedrich Birkmaier (1874-1945), a German architect who designed several notable buildings in Munich, and Katharina Birkmaier (1895-1978), a German-born artist and painter who emigrated to the United States in the 1920s and became known for her landscape paintings depicting scenes from the American Southwest.
While the name Birkmaier is most commonly found in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, it has also spread to other parts of the world through emigration, particularly to North America, where descendants of German immigrants have carried on the surname.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Birkmaier
Among Census respondents with the surname Birkmaier, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Birkmaier 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 Birkmaier surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 100
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 5
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Birkmaier
Birkmaier 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
#133,048
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 127
+15 bearers (+13.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 4,768 places
2020
#150,935
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
-19 bearers (-15.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 17,887 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #137,816 | 112 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #133,048 | 127 | 0.04 | +15 bearers (+13.4%) | Up 4,768 places |
| 2020 | #150,935 | 108 | 0.04 | -19 bearers (-15.0%) | Down 17,887 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 Birkmaier 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 | #133,048 | #150,935 | -13.4% |
| Count | 127 | 108 | -15.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Birkmaier bearers went from 127 to 108 (-15.0% change). The surname moved down 17,887 positions in the national ranking, going from #133,048 to #150,935.
FAQ
Birkmaier surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Birkmaier?
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the surname Birkmaier. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,764,148 residents.
How common is Birkmaier?
Birkmaier 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 Birkmaier. 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 Birkmaier.
Has Birkmaier become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Birkmaier went from 127 recorded bearers to 108. That is a decrease of 19 (-15.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #133,048 to #150,935.
What does the Census say about the background of Birkmaier?
Among Census respondents with the surname Birkmaier, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Birkmaier in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Birkmaier appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Hispanic (4.6%), Black (0.9%). 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 Birkmaier (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 Birkmaier mean?
A German surname meaning "from the Birkenau" or "from the birch meadow". 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 Birkmaier (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 people have the surname Birkmaier?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.