2000
#10,504
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,805
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.04
Rare Last name
Eichhorn
A German toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near an oak tree or oak forest.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,043 Americans carry the last name Eichhorn. That puts it at #11,361 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.89 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 112,637 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Eichhorn 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
3.0K
1 in 112,637
Census rank
#11,361
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,654 bearers of the surname Eichhorn in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.89 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11361st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Eichhorn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Eichhorn
The surname EICHHORN is of German origin, derived from the German words "eich" meaning "oak" and "horn" meaning "horn." It refers to a person who lived near an oak tree or worked with oak wood, possibly as a carpenter or woodworker.
The name EICHHORN can be traced back to medieval Germany, and it is believed to have emerged as a family name around the 13th or 14th century. It was commonly found in regions where oak forests were abundant, such as Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the EICHHORN name can be found in the Wittenberg Burghers' Book from the 15th century, which lists several individuals with this surname residing in the town of Wittenberg.
The EICHHORN name also appears in various historical documents and records from different parts of Germany. For instance, in 1497, a certain Hans EICHHORN is mentioned in the municipal records of the city of Nuremberg.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the EICHHORN surname was Johann EICHHORN, a German theologian and author born in 1518 in Hesse. He wrote several works on religious subjects and was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation.
Another significant EICHHORN was Johann Gottfried EICHHORN, a German scholar and professor of Oriental languages born in 1752 in Dörrenzimmern. He made important contributions to the study of biblical literature and is considered a pioneer in the field of biblical criticism.
In the 19th century, Karl Friedrich EICHHORN, born in 1781 in Jena, was a renowned German jurist and legal scholar. He served as a professor of law at the University of Berlin and authored several influential works on legal theory and jurisprudence.
Johann Albrecht Friedrich EICHHORN, born in 1779 in Jena, was a prominent German economic historian and statistician. He wrote extensively on the history of agriculture, industry, and commerce, and his works were widely influential in the field of economic history.
Over the centuries, the EICHHORN name has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Eichhorn (a town in Saxony), Eichhornhöfe (a village in Thuringia), and Eichhornberg (a hill in Bavaria).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eichhorn
Among Census respondents with the surname Eichhorn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Eichhorn 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 Eichhorn surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 2,469
- Two or more races2.9% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 73
- Black or African American0.6% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Eichhorn
Eichhorn 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
#11,193
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,825
+20 bearers (+0.7%)
Per 100,000 0.96
Rank movement Down 689 places
2020
#11,361
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,654
-171 bearers (-6.1%)
Per 100,000 0.89
Rank movement Down 168 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,504 | 2,805 | 1.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,193 | 2,825 | 0.96 | +20 bearers (+0.7%) | Down 689 places |
| 2020 | #11,361 | 2,654 | 0.89 | -171 bearers (-6.1%) | Down 168 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 Eichhorn 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 | #11,193 | #11,361 | -1.5% |
| Count | 2,825 | 2,654 | -6.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.96 | 0.89 | -7.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Eichhorn bearers went from 2,825 to 2,654 (-6.1% change). The surname moved down 168 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,193 to #11,361.
FAQ
Eichhorn surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Eichhorn?
Name Census estimates that about 3,043 living Americans carry the surname Eichhorn. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 112,637 residents.
How common is Eichhorn?
Eichhorn ranks #11,361 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.89 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 2,654 people with the surname Eichhorn. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,043), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.89 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.89 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 Eichhorn.
Has Eichhorn become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Eichhorn went from 2,825 recorded bearers to 2,654. That is a decrease of 171 (-6.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,193 to #11,361.
What does the Census say about the background of Eichhorn?
Among Census respondents with the surname Eichhorn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Eichhorn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (2,469 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Eichhorn appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Two or More Races (2.9%), Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Eichhorn (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 Eichhorn mean?
A German toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near an oak tree or oak 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 Eichhorn (0.89 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 Eichhorn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.