2000
#3,299
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,968
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.70
Uncommon Last name
Brinkman
An occupational surname referring to someone who lived near or worked on the edge of a town or village.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 11,256 Americans carry the last name Brinkman. That puts it at #3,546 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.28 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 30,451 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Brinkman 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Brinkman with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
11K
1 in 30,451
Census rank
#3,546
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.8K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 9,816 bearers of the surname Brinkman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.28 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3546th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Brinkman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Brinkman
The surname Brinkman originated in the northern regions of Germany and the Netherlands during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old German words "brink" meaning a grassy edge or border, and "man" meaning a person. The name likely referred to someone who lived near the edge of a village or settlement.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Brinkman can be found in the Bremisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical documents from the city of Bremen, dating back to the 14th century. In this record, a certain "Hinricus Brinkman" is mentioned as a landowner in the year 1372.
The Brinkman name also appears in several Dutch records from the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the Lidmaten Register, a register of church members. This suggests that the name had spread to the neighboring Netherlands during this time period.
A notable early bearer of the Brinkman surname was Dirck Brinkman, a Dutch merchant and explorer who sailed with the Dutch East India Company in the early 17th century. He was involved in the establishment of Dutch settlements in present-day Indonesia and is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time.
Another prominent figure was Johann Brinkman, a German theologian and philosopher who lived from 1630 to 1703. He was a professor at the University of Jena and authored several influential works on theology and metaphysics.
In the 18th century, a certain Johann Brinkman (1707-1781) was a well-known German architect who designed several notable buildings in the baroque style, including the Fridericianum in Kassel.
During the 19th century, the Brinkman name gained prominence in the field of science. Carl Gustav Brinkman (1809-1889) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist who made significant contributions to the classification of plants.
Additionally, Arnold Brinkman (1834-1897) was a Dutch painter and printmaker who specialized in landscape and genre scenes, and is considered a part of the Hague School of artists.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Brinkman
Among Census respondents with the surname Brinkman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Brinkman 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 Brinkman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.7% · 9,101
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 284
- Two or more races2.9% · 283
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 78
- Black or African American0.4% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 31
Timeline
Historical Census data for Brinkman
Brinkman 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
#3,421
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,432
+464 bearers (+4.7%)
Per 100,000 3.54
Rank movement Down 122 places
2020
#3,546
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,816
-616 bearers (-5.9%)
Per 100,000 3.28
Rank movement Down 125 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,299 | 9,968 | 3.70 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,421 | 10,432 | 3.54 | +464 bearers (+4.7%) | Down 122 places |
| 2020 | #3,546 | 9,816 | 3.28 | -616 bearers (-5.9%) | Down 125 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 Brinkman 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 | #3,421 | #3,546 | -3.7% |
| Count | 10,432 | 9,816 | -5.9% |
| Per 100K | 3.54 | 3.28 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Brinkman bearers went from 10,432 to 9,816 (-5.9% change). The surname moved down 125 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,421 to #3,546.
FAQ
Brinkman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Brinkman?
Name Census estimates that about 11,256 living Americans carry the surname Brinkman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 30,451 residents.
How common is Brinkman?
Brinkman ranks #3,546 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.28 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 9,816 people with the surname Brinkman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (11,256), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.28 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.28 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Brinkman.
Has Brinkman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Brinkman went from 10,432 recorded bearers to 9,816. That is a decrease of 616 (-5.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,421 to #3,546.
What does the Census say about the background of Brinkman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Brinkman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. 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 Brinkman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.7% (9,101 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Brinkman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.7%), 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 Brinkman (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 Brinkman mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone who lived near or worked on the edge of a town or village. 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 Brinkman (3.28 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 Brinkman?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.