2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Duenwald
A German habitational surname derived from a place name related to the words dun (dune) and wald (forest).
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Duenwald. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Duenwald 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
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Duenwald in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Duenwald, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Duenwald
The surname Duenwald has its origins in Germany, dating back to the early medieval period around the 8th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old German words "duen" meaning "dune" or "hill," and "wald" meaning "forest" or "woodland." This suggests that the name initially referred to someone who lived near a forested hill or dune area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Duenwald can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the former Kingdom of Saxony, dated around the 11th century. The name is also mentioned in the Reichsmatrikel, an imperial registry of the Holy Roman Empire, compiled in the 15th century.
Notable individuals with the surname Duenwald include Hans Duenwald, a German cartographer and mapmaker who lived in the late 16th century. His intricate and detailed maps of various regions in Germany were highly regarded during his time. Another prominent figure was Johann Duenwald, a renowned theologian and philosopher who lived in the 17th century and made significant contributions to the field of religious studies.
In the realm of literature, the name Duenwald appears in the works of the German writer and poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who referenced a character with this surname in one of his novels set in the 18th century.
The name Duenwald has also been associated with several place names in Germany, such as Duenwalderhof, a small village in Lower Saxony, and Duenwaldersee, a lake in the state of Brandenburg. These place names likely originated from the presence of families with the surname Duenwald in those areas.
Other notable individuals with the surname Duenwald include Friedrich Duenwald, a German military officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century, and Sophia Duenwald, a renowned artist and painter from the late 18th century, known for her landscapes depicting the German countryside.
Throughout its history, the surname Duenwald has maintained a strong presence in various regions of Germany, with many families tracing their roots back to the medieval period and beyond.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Duenwald
Among Census respondents with the surname Duenwald, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Duenwald 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 Duenwald surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.4% · 110
- Two or more races6.7% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Duenwald
Duenwald 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
#134,712
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 125
+12 bearers (+10.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 2,071 places
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-6 bearers (-4.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,076 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #136,783 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #134,712 | 125 | 0.04 | +12 bearers (+10.6%) | Up 2,071 places |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-4.8%) | Down 8,076 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 Duenwald 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 | #134,712 | #142,788 | -6.0% |
| Count | 125 | 119 | -4.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Duenwald bearers went from 125 to 119 (-4.8% change). The surname moved down 8,076 positions in the national ranking, going from #134,712 to #142,788.
FAQ
Duenwald surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Duenwald?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Duenwald. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Duenwald?
Duenwald ranks #142,788 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 119 people with the surname Duenwald. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), 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 Duenwald.
Has Duenwald become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Duenwald went from 125 recorded bearers to 119. That is a decrease of 6 (-4.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #134,712 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Duenwald?
Among Census respondents with the surname Duenwald, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%). 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 Duenwald in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (110 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Duenwald appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.4%), Two or More Races (6.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%). 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 Duenwald (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 Duenwald mean?
A German habitational surname derived from a place name related to the words dun (dune) and wald (forest). 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 Duenwald (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 share the surname Duenwald?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.