2000
#14,335
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,916
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.71
Rare Last name
Daub
An occupational surname for someone who applied clay or plaster to wattle walls in building construction.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,110 Americans carry the last name Daub. That puts it at #15,355 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 162,443 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Daub 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
2.1K
1 in 162,443
Census rank
#15,355
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,840 bearers of the surname Daub in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15355th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Daub, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Daub
The surname Daub is of German origin and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old German word "daub," which means "mud" or "loam." This suggests that the name was initially associated with those who worked with clay or mud, such as potters or builders.
In its earliest recorded instances, the name appeared as "Doub" or "Douben" in various medieval records and manuscripts from the 12th and 13th centuries in regions like Bavaria and Saxony. Some early bearers of the name were likely found in areas known for their pottery or brickmaking industries, like the town of Deuben in Saxony.
The name Daub can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. One notable mention is of a certain Johann Daub, a potter from the town of Meissen, who was recorded in 1287.
In the 14th century, the name appears in various forms, such as "Dauber" and "Dauben," in records from cities like Nuremberg and Augsburg. One notable figure from this period was Hans Dauber, a master builder and architect from Nuremberg, who lived from around 1330 to 1395.
As the name spread across Germany and into neighboring regions, it evolved into various spellings, including "Daube," "Daubel," and "Daubert." In the 16th century, a famous bearer of the name was Johann Daubert, a German theologian and reformer from Wittenberg, who lived from 1520 to 1588.
In the 17th century, the name appears in the records of the Thirty Years' War, with mentions of soldiers and mercenaries bearing the surname Daub. One notable figure from this period was Hans Daub, a German mercenary captain who fought for the Swedish army during the war, born around 1605.
As the name spread across Europe, it also found its way into other languages and regions. In the 18th century, a notable bearer of the name was Jean-Baptiste Daub, a French painter and engraver from Strasbourg, who lived from 1742 to 1819.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daub
Among Census respondents with the surname Daub, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Daub 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 Daub surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 1,698
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 53
- Two or more races2.6% · 48
- Black or African American1.0% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Daub
Daub 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
#14,734
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,017
+101 bearers (+5.3%)
Per 100,000 0.68
Rank movement Down 399 places
2020
#15,355
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,840
-177 bearers (-8.8%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 621 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,335 | 1,916 | 0.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,734 | 2,017 | 0.68 | +101 bearers (+5.3%) | Down 399 places |
| 2020 | #15,355 | 1,840 | 0.62 | -177 bearers (-8.8%) | Down 621 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 Daub 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 | #14,734 | #15,355 | -4.2% |
| Count | 2,017 | 1,840 | -8.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.68 | 0.62 | -9.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Daub bearers went from 2,017 to 1,840 (-8.8% change). The surname moved down 621 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,734 to #15,355.
FAQ
Daub surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Daub?
Name Census estimates that about 2,110 living Americans carry the surname Daub. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 162,443 residents.
How common is Daub?
Daub ranks #15,355 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 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 1,840 people with the surname Daub. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,110), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 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 Daub.
Has Daub become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Daub went from 2,017 recorded bearers to 1,840. That is a decrease of 177 (-8.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,734 to #15,355.
What does the Census say about the background of Daub?
Among Census respondents with the surname Daub, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) 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 Daub in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (1,698 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Daub appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (2.9%), 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 Daub (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 Daub mean?
An occupational surname for someone who applied clay or plaster to wattle walls in building construction. 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 Daub (0.62 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 Daub?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.