2000
#12,638
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,247
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.83
Rare Last name
Buhr
A German toponymic surname denoting someone who lived by a marshy or swampy area.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,758 Americans carry the last name Buhr. That puts it at #12,335 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.80 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 124,276 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Buhr 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
2.8K
1 in 124,276
Census rank
#12,335
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,405 bearers of the surname Buhr in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.80 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12335th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Buhr, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Buhr
The surname BUHR is of German origin, derived from the word "bur" which means peasant or farmer. It first emerged in the late medieval period, around the 13th century, in the regions of northern Germany and the Low Countries.
The name likely originated as a descriptive name for someone who worked as a peasant or farmer, or possibly as a toponymic name for someone who lived near a particular farmstead or village. Early variations of the spelling include Bur, Bure, Buir, and Buhr.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name BUHR can be found in the 1489 Westphalian tax records, where a certain Johannes Buhr is listed as a landowner in the town of Soest. Another early reference is in the 1528 parish records of Lübeck, where a Hinrich Buhr is mentioned.
In the 16th century, the name BUHR appears in the annals of the city of Hamburg, where a prominent merchant and alderman named Barthold Buhr is recorded as having lived from 1542 to 1612. He was a influential figure in the city's trade guilds and played a role in the Reformation movement.
Another notable bearer of the name was Johann Buhr, a German astronomer and mathematician who lived from 1610 to 1667. He made significant contributions to the development of the telescope and the study of celestial bodies.
In the 18th century, a well-known figure with the surname BUHR was Johann Gottlieb Buhr, a German composer and organist who lived from 1763 to 1829. He composed numerous works for the organ and church music.
The name BUHR can also be found in various place names throughout Germany and the Netherlands, such as Buhrdorf, Buhrau, and Buhrfelde, which likely derived from the same linguistic root.
As the name spread across Europe in the modern era, it has been adopted and adapted in various languages, leading to alternative spellings like Bur, Burr, and Buhre. However, the core meaning and historical significance of the name BUHR as a marker of agrarian roots in northern Germany and the Low Countries remain intact.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Buhr
Among Census respondents with the surname Buhr, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Buhr 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 Buhr surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 2,227
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 78
- Two or more races2.6% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 25
- Black or African American0.4% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Buhr
Buhr 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
#12,622
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,452
+205 bearers (+9.1%)
Per 100,000 0.83
Rank movement Up 16 places
2020
#12,335
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,405
-47 bearers (-1.9%)
Per 100,000 0.80
Rank movement Up 287 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,638 | 2,247 | 0.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,622 | 2,452 | 0.83 | +205 bearers (+9.1%) | Up 16 places |
| 2020 | #12,335 | 2,405 | 0.80 | -47 bearers (-1.9%) | Up 287 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 Buhr 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 | #12,622 | #12,335 | 2.3% |
| Count | 2,452 | 2,405 | -1.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.83 | 0.80 | -3.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Buhr bearers went from 2,452 to 2,405 (-1.9% change). The surname moved up 287 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,622 to #12,335.
FAQ
Buhr surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Buhr?
Name Census estimates that about 2,758 living Americans carry the surname Buhr. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 124,276 residents.
How common is Buhr?
Buhr ranks #12,335 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.80 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,405 people with the surname Buhr. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,758), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.8 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.80 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Buhr.
Has Buhr become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Buhr went from 2,452 recorded bearers to 2,405. That is a decrease of 47 (-1.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #12,622 to #12,335.
What does the Census say about the background of Buhr?
Among Census respondents with the surname Buhr, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Buhr in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (2,227 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Buhr appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Hispanic (3.2%), Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Buhr (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 Buhr mean?
A German toponymic surname denoting someone who lived by a marshy or swampy area. 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 Buhr (0.80 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 are called Buhr?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Buhr at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.