2000
#123,314
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 129
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Deffinbaugh
An Americanized spelling of the German surname derived from a place name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Deffinbaugh. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Deffinbaugh 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
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Deffinbaugh in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Deffinbaugh, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Deffinbaugh
The surname DEFFINBAUGH is of German origin, traced back to the early 16th century in the region of Bavaria. It is believed to have derived from the German words "deffen" meaning "brave" and "baugh" meaning "battle" or "fighter". This suggests the name may have been initially given to a courageous warrior or soldier.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name DEFFINBAUGH can be found in a 1532 manuscript from the town of Augsburg, which mentions a man named Hans Deffinbaugh who was a skilled blacksmith. The name also appears in various church records and tax rolls from the 17th and 18th centuries in towns like Nuremberg and Regensburg.
In the mid-18th century, a branch of the DEFFINBAUGH family migrated to the American colonies, settling in Pennsylvania. The first recorded DEFFINBAUGH in America was Johannes DEFFINBAUGH, born in 1745 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. He served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
Another notable DEFFINBAUGH was Wilhelm DEFFINBAUGH (1802-1879), a German-born farmer and businessman who founded the town of Deffinbaugh, Ohio in 1835. The town was later renamed Defiance, but it still bears testament to the family's early presence in the region.
In the 19th century, several members of the DEFFINBAUGH family made their mark in various fields. Friedrich DEFFINBAUGH (1818-1892) was a renowned German architect who designed several prominent buildings in Munich. Amelia DEFFINBAUGH (1836-1911) was an American author and poet, known for her collection of poems titled "Echoes from the Heart".
One of the most famous individuals with the DEFFINBAUGH surname was Joachim DEFFINBAUGH (1875-1942), a German physicist and inventor who made significant contributions to the development of early radio technology. He was awarded several patents for his innovative designs and worked closely with pioneers like Guglielmo Marconi.
While the DEFFINBAUGH name may have evolved and adapted over the centuries, its origins can be traced back to the brave warriors and skilled craftsmen of medieval Germany, who carried this distinctive surname across generations and continents.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deffinbaugh
Among Census respondents with the surname Deffinbaugh, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Deffinbaugh 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 Deffinbaugh surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.2% · 112
- Two or more races1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Deffinbaugh
Deffinbaugh 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
#120,901
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 143
+14 bearers (+10.9%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Up 2,413 places
2020
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-29 bearers (-20.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 25,594 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #123,314 | 129 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #120,901 | 143 | 0.05 | +14 bearers (+10.9%) | Up 2,413 places |
| 2020 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | -29 bearers (-20.3%) | Down 25,594 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 Deffinbaugh 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 | #120,901 | #146,495 | -21.2% |
| Count | 143 | 114 | -20.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -23.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Deffinbaugh bearers went from 143 to 114 (-20.3% change). The surname moved down 25,594 positions in the national ranking, going from #120,901 to #146,495.
FAQ
Deffinbaugh surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Deffinbaugh?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Deffinbaugh. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Deffinbaugh?
Deffinbaugh ranks #146,495 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 114 people with the surname Deffinbaugh. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), 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 Deffinbaugh.
Has Deffinbaugh become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Deffinbaugh went from 143 recorded bearers to 114. That is a decrease of 29 (-20.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #120,901 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Deffinbaugh?
Among Census respondents with the surname Deffinbaugh, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Deffinbaugh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.2% (112 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Deffinbaugh appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.2%), Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Deffinbaugh (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 Deffinbaugh mean?
An Americanized spelling of the German surname derived from a place name. 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 Deffinbaugh (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 last name Deffinbaugh?
If you just want to know how many people are called Deffinbaugh, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.