2000
#126,400
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 125
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Ekert
A German surname likely derived from a short form of the given name Ekkehard.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 124 Americans carry the last name Ekert. That puts it at #150,935 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,764,148 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ekert 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
124
1 in 2,764,148
Census rank
#150,935
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
108
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 108 bearers of the surname Ekert in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150935th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ekert, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Ekert
The surname EKERT is of German origin and can be traced back to the early 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the region of Bavaria, where it was first recorded in local parish records and tax rolls.
One of the earliest known references to the name EKERT can be found in a document dating back to 1521, which mentions a certain Hans Ekert, a farmer living in the village of Murnau, near the city of Munich.
The name EKERT is likely derived from the Old German word "eck," meaning "corner" or "edge," and may have been initially used as a descriptive name for someone living on a corner or at the edge of a town or village.
In the 17th century, the name EKERT began to spread beyond Bavaria, with records showing families with this surname in neighboring regions such as Saxony and Thuringia.
One notable bearer of the EKERT surname was Johann Georg Ekert (1664-1737), a renowned German philosopher and theologian who served as a professor at the University of Leipzig.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the EKERT name continued to be found throughout various parts of Germany, with some families eventually emigrating to other parts of Europe and North America.
One such individual was Friedrich Ekert (1796-1882), who left Germany in the 1840s and settled in the United States, becoming one of the earliest documented bearers of the EKERT name in America.
Another notable figure with the EKERT surname was Karl Ekert (1878-1945), a German-born artist who gained recognition for his landscape paintings and worked in both Germany and the United States.
In the early 20th century, the EKERT name also appeared in historical records from Austria, with a notable example being the writer and poet Erich Ekert (1901-1972), whose works explored themes of the Austrian countryside and rural life.
Throughout its history, the surname EKERT has been subject to various spelling variations, including Eckert, Eckhardt, and Eckhardt, reflecting the regional dialects and linguistic influences in the areas where it was prevalent.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ekert
Among Census respondents with the surname Ekert, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Ekert 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 Ekert surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.5% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ekert
Ekert 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
#147,253
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-13 bearers (-10.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 20,853 places
2020
#150,935
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
-4 bearers (-3.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,682 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #126,400 | 125 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #147,253 | 112 | 0.04 | -13 bearers (-10.4%) | Down 20,853 places |
| 2020 | #150,935 | 108 | 0.04 | -4 bearers (-3.6%) | Down 3,682 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 Ekert 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 | #147,253 | #150,935 | -2.5% |
| Count | 112 | 108 | -3.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ekert bearers went from 112 to 108 (-3.6% change). The surname moved down 3,682 positions in the national ranking, going from #147,253 to #150,935.
FAQ
Ekert surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ekert?
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the surname Ekert. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,764,148 residents.
How common is Ekert?
Ekert ranks #150,935 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 108 people with the surname Ekert. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (124), 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 Ekert.
Has Ekert become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ekert went from 112 recorded bearers to 108. That is a decrease of 4 (-3.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #147,253 to #150,935.
What does the Census say about the background of Ekert?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ekert, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Ekert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (101 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ekert appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.5%), Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Ekert (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 Ekert mean?
A German surname likely derived from a short form of the given name Ekkehard. 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 Ekert (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 common is the surname Ekert?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Ekert at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.