2000
#121,058
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 132
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Engelberger
A surname of German origin meaning "inhabitants of Engelberg".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 135 Americans carry the last name Engelberger. That puts it at #143,511 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,538,921 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Engelberger 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
135
1 in 2,538,921
Census rank
#143,511
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
118
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 118 bearers of the surname Engelberger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 143511th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Engelberger, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.5%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Engelberger
The surname Engelberger originates from Germany, where it first appeared in the late medieval period around the 13th century. It is derived from the Middle High German words "engel," meaning angel, and "berg," meaning mountain or hill. Thus, the name likely referred to someone who lived near a hill or mountain associated with angels or saints.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Engelberger can be found in the town records of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a well-preserved medieval town in Bavaria, dating back to the 14th century. The name was also present in other German regions, such as Saxony and Württemberg, during the same period.
In the 16th century, a notable figure with the surname Engelberger was Johann Engelberger, a German theologian and reformer born in Nuremberg in 1498. He played a role in the Protestant Reformation and was a close associate of Martin Luther.
Another prominent individual was Hans Engelberger, a Swiss painter and stained-glass artist active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He was responsible for creating several notable works in churches and monasteries across Switzerland and southern Germany.
During the 17th century, the name Engelberger was found in various records from the Palatinate region of Germany, including the town of Speyer. One such entry mentions a Michael Engelberger, a vintner and landowner born in 1625.
In the 18th century, Johann Jakob Engelberger, born in 1732 in Württemberg, was a renowned clockmaker and inventor known for his innovative clock designs and mechanisms.
As the name spread across German-speaking regions, variations in spelling emerged, such as Engelberger, Engelberger, and Engelbergher. Some of these variants may have originated from different dialectal pronunciations or regional variations in spelling conventions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Engelberger
Among Census respondents with the surname Engelberger, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.5%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Engelberger 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 Engelberger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.6% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 3
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Engelberger
Engelberger 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
#132,206
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 128
-4 bearers (-3.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 11,148 places
2020
#143,511
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
-10 bearers (-7.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 11,305 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #121,058 | 132 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #132,206 | 128 | 0.04 | -4 bearers (-3.0%) | Down 11,148 places |
| 2020 | #143,511 | 118 | 0.04 | -10 bearers (-7.8%) | Down 11,305 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 Engelberger 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 | #132,206 | #143,511 | -8.6% |
| Count | 128 | 118 | -7.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -1.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Engelberger bearers went from 128 to 118 (-7.8% change). The surname moved down 11,305 positions in the national ranking, going from #132,206 to #143,511.
FAQ
Engelberger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Engelberger?
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the surname Engelberger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,538,921 residents.
How common is Engelberger?
Engelberger ranks #143,511 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 118 people with the surname Engelberger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (135), 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 Engelberger.
Has Engelberger become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Engelberger went from 128 recorded bearers to 118. That is a decrease of 10 (-7.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #132,206 to #143,511.
What does the Census say about the background of Engelberger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Engelberger, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.5%) and Two or More Races (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 Engelberger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.6% (114 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Engelberger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.6%), Hispanic (2.5%), Two or More Races (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 Engelberger (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 Engelberger mean?
A surname of German origin meaning "inhabitants of Engelberg". 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 Engelberger (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 Americans have the surname Engelberger?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.