2000
#12,292
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,320
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.86
Rare Last name
Dreiling
A German occupational surname referring to someone who works with a lathe or produces turned objects.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,303 Americans carry the last name Dreiling. That puts it at #14,332 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 148,829 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dreiling 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
2.3K
1 in 148,829
Census rank
#14,332
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,008 bearers of the surname Dreiling in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14332nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dreiling, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dreiling
The surname Dreiling originated in Germany, with the earliest known records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the German word "dreilingen," which means "three villages" or "three communities." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with someone who lived in or owned land near three adjacent villages or towns.
In the 17th century, variations of the name such as Dreyling, Dreilingen, and Dreylingen were found in various German records, particularly in the regions of Hesse and Saxony. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in the town of Fritzlar, Hesse, where a Johannes Dreilingen was mentioned in a church register in 1612.
The Dreiling name does not appear to have any direct mentions in major historical texts or manuscripts like the Domesday Book, as it was primarily a localized German surname. However, it is possible that some early bearers of the name were involved in minor local events or records that have not been widely documented or preserved.
One of the earliest known individuals with the Dreiling surname was Johann Dreiling, born in 1682 in Hersfeld, Hesse. He was a farmer and landowner in the region. Another notable bearer of the name was Georg Dreiling (1755-1832), a German theologian and author from Saxony, who wrote several religious texts and served as a pastor in various churches.
In the 19th century, the Dreiling name began to spread more widely as some families emigrated from Germany to other parts of Europe and North America. One such individual was Wilhelm Dreiling (1818-1892), who was born in Hesse and later settled in Pennsylvania, United States, where he worked as a farmer and had several children, helping to establish the Dreiling lineage in the country.
Another notable figure was Friedrich Dreiling (1875-1942), a German architect who designed several prominent buildings in Berlin and other cities during the early 20th century. His most famous work was the Reichsbanknebenstelle (Imperial Bank Branch) in Berlin, completed in 1907.
In more recent times, one of the most well-known individuals with the Dreiling surname was Gerhard Dreiling (1923-2005), a German-American physicist and engineer who made significant contributions to the development of radar technology and worked for various aerospace companies, including NASA.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dreiling
Among Census respondents with the surname Dreiling, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Dreiling 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 Dreiling surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 1,851
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 86
- Two or more races2.2% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
- Black or African American0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dreiling
Dreiling 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
#13,572
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,234
-86 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 0.76
Rank movement Down 1,280 places
2020
#14,332
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,008
-226 bearers (-10.1%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Down 760 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,292 | 2,320 | 0.86 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,572 | 2,234 | 0.76 | -86 bearers (-3.7%) | Down 1,280 places |
| 2020 | #14,332 | 2,008 | 0.67 | -226 bearers (-10.1%) | Down 760 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 Dreiling 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 | #13,572 | #14,332 | -5.6% |
| Count | 2,234 | 2,008 | -10.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.76 | 0.67 | -11.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dreiling bearers went from 2,234 to 2,008 (-10.1% change). The surname moved down 760 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,572 to #14,332.
FAQ
Dreiling surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dreiling?
Name Census estimates that about 2,303 living Americans carry the surname Dreiling. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 148,829 residents.
How common is Dreiling?
Dreiling ranks #14,332 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.67 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 2,008 people with the surname Dreiling. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,303), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.67 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.67 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 Dreiling.
Has Dreiling become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dreiling went from 2,234 recorded bearers to 2,008. That is a decrease of 226 (-10.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,572 to #14,332.
What does the Census say about the background of Dreiling?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dreiling, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Dreiling in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (1,851 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dreiling appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Hispanic (4.3%), Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Dreiling (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 Dreiling mean?
A German occupational surname referring to someone who works with a lathe or produces turned objects. 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 Dreiling (0.67 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 surname Dreiling?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.