2000
#14,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,895
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.70
Rare Last name
Drumheller
A Scottish surname derived from a place name, potentially meaning a valley of ridges or hills.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,031 Americans carry the last name Drumheller. That puts it at #15,833 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.59 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 168,761 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Drumheller 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
2.0K
1 in 168,761
Census rank
#15,833
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,771 bearers of the surname Drumheller in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.59 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15833rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Drumheller, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Drumheller
The surname Drumheller is of German origin, derived from the Old High German word "trum," meaning drum or drumbeat, and "heller," which refers to a resounding sound or echo. It is believed to have originated in the 11th or 12th century, indicating that the name may have been given to someone who played the drum or lived near a location where the sound of drumbeats could be heard.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Drumheller can be found in the historical records of the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria, Germany, where a Johannes Drumheller was mentioned in a document dated 1342. This suggests that the name was already well-established in that region by the 14th century.
In the 16th century, the Drumheller name appeared in the records of the city of Nuremberg, where a notable figure, Hans Drumheller (1510-1578), was a prominent merchant and member of the city council. His son, Jakob Drumheller (1548-1621), followed in his footsteps and became a respected businessman and civic leader in Nuremberg.
The surname Drumheller has also been associated with places named after individuals bearing this name. For example, the town of Drumheller in Alberta, Canada, was named after a coal mine operator named Samuel Drumheller (1828-1910), who established a mining operation in the area in the late 19th century.
Another notable figure with the Drumheller surname was Johann Jakob Drumheller (1774-1845), a German philosopher and educator who taught at the University of Heidelberg. His writings on ethics and moral philosophy were widely influential in the early 19th century.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the Drumheller name was Johann Georg Drumheller (1720-1803), a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century. His descendants went on to establish themselves in various parts of the country, contributing to the spread of this surname across North America.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Drumheller
Among Census respondents with the surname Drumheller, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Drumheller 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 Drumheller surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 1,640
- Two or more races4.1% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 9
- Black or African American0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Drumheller
Drumheller 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
#15,727
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,854
-41 bearers (-2.2%)
Per 100,000 0.63
Rank movement Down 1,278 places
2020
#15,833
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,771
-83 bearers (-4.5%)
Per 100,000 0.59
Rank movement Down 106 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,449 | 1,895 | 0.70 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,727 | 1,854 | 0.63 | -41 bearers (-2.2%) | Down 1,278 places |
| 2020 | #15,833 | 1,771 | 0.59 | -83 bearers (-4.5%) | Down 106 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 Drumheller 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 | #15,727 | #15,833 | -0.7% |
| Count | 1,854 | 1,771 | -4.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.63 | 0.59 | -6.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Drumheller bearers went from 1,854 to 1,771 (-4.5% change). The surname moved down 106 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,727 to #15,833.
FAQ
Drumheller surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Drumheller?
Name Census estimates that about 2,031 living Americans carry the surname Drumheller. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 168,761 residents.
How common is Drumheller?
Drumheller ranks #15,833 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.59 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 1,771 people with the surname Drumheller. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,031), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.59 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.59 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 Drumheller.
Has Drumheller become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Drumheller went from 1,854 recorded bearers to 1,771. That is a decrease of 83 (-4.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #15,727 to #15,833.
What does the Census say about the background of Drumheller?
Among Census respondents with the surname Drumheller, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Drumheller in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (1,640 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Drumheller appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Two or More Races (4.1%), Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Drumheller (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 Drumheller mean?
A Scottish surname derived from a place name, potentially meaning a valley of ridges or hills. 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 Drumheller (0.59 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 Drumheller?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.