2010
#144,141
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Drefs
A topographic surname referring to someone living near a grove or meadow.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 111 Americans carry the last name Drefs. That puts it at #156,449 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,087,877 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Drefs 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
111
1 in 3,087,877
Census rank
#156,449
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
97
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 97 bearers of the surname Drefs in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 156449th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Drefs, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Black (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Drefs
The surname Drefs has its origins in the Germanic regions of central Europe, dating back to the early medieval period around the 10th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old High German word "drefs," which referred to a type of coarse fabric or cloth. This suggests that the name may have initially been an occupational surname for someone involved in the production or trade of this particular textile.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Traditionum Westfalicarum, a collection of medieval charters and documents from the region of Westphalia in modern-day Germany. In this text, a certain "Drefs de Monasterio" is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction in the year 1056.
Another notable early reference comes from the Urbarium Cracoviense, a 13th-century Polish manuscript that served as a register of properties and landholdings in the Kraków region. Here, a "Petrus Drefs" is listed as a tenant farmer in the village of Mogilany around the year 1270.
During the 14th century, the name appears to have spread to other parts of Europe, including the Netherlands and the Baltic region. In the Hanseatic League records of the city of Lübeck, a merchant named "Johannes Drefs" is recorded as having traded goods with partners in Riga and Tallinn in the year 1378.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name in England was Sir William Drefs, a knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War under King Edward III. He is mentioned in the Gascon Rolls, a series of administrative records from the English-held territories in southwestern France, in the year 1345.
In the 16th century, the name can be found in various parts of central and eastern Europe. Notable figures include the German humanist scholar Johann Drefs (1515-1587), who served as a professor at the University of Wittenberg, and the Polish nobleman Stanisław Drefs (1540-1612), who was a military commander during the Polish-Swedish War.
As the centuries progressed, the surname continued to be found across Europe, with various spellings and variations emerging, such as Dreffs, Dreffes, and Drefs. Other notable bearers of the name include the Dutch painter Jan Drefs (1665-1745), the Prussian general Friedrich Drefs (1740-1819), and the Austrian composer and conductor Anton Drefs (1801-1876).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Drefs
Among Census respondents with the surname Drefs, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Black (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Drefs 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 Drefs surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.8% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 7
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Drefs
Drefs appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#156,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 97
-18 bearers (-15.7%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 12,308 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #144,141 | 115 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #156,449 | 97 | 0.03 | -18 bearers (-15.7%) | Down 12,308 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 Drefs 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 | #144,141 | #156,449 | -8.5% |
| Count | 115 | 97 | -15.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -18.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Drefs bearers went from 115 to 97 (-15.7% change). The surname moved down 12,308 positions in the national ranking, going from #144,141 to #156,449.
FAQ
Drefs surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Drefs?
Name Census estimates that about 111 living Americans carry the surname Drefs. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,087,877 residents.
How common is Drefs?
Drefs ranks #156,449 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 97 people with the surname Drefs. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (111), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Drefs.
Has Drefs become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Drefs went from 115 recorded bearers to 97. That is a decrease of 18 (-15.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #144,141 to #156,449.
What does the Census say about the background of Drefs?
Among Census respondents with the surname Drefs, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Black (1.0%). 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 Drefs in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (89 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Drefs appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.8%), Hispanic (7.2%), Black (1.0%). 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 Drefs (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 Drefs mean?
A topographic surname referring to someone living near a grove or 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 Drefs (0.03 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 Drefs?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.