2000
#11,113
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,621
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.97
Rare Last name
Feldmann
An occupational surname referring to a person who worked or lived in the fields or meadows.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,245 Americans carry the last name Feldmann. That puts it at #10,766 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.95 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 105,625 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Feldmann 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
3.2K
1 in 105,625
Census rank
#10,766
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,830 bearers of the surname Feldmann in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.95 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10766th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Feldmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Feldmann
The surname Feldmann is of German origin, deriving from the Middle High German word "velt" meaning "field" and the German word "mann" meaning "man." This combination suggests the name referred to someone who lived or worked in a field, likely a farmer or agricultural worker.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Hans Feldmann, a farmer from the village of Niederau in Bavaria, who was mentioned in a land registry document dated 1287.
In the 14th century, the name appeared in several medieval records and manuscripts, including the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, which contains a reference to a certain Konrad Feldmann from the town of Meissen in Saxony, dated 1342.
The name Feldmann was also found in some early place names, such as Feldmannsdorf, a village in Lower Austria that was first mentioned in a document from 1412. This suggests that the name may have been derived from a place name in some cases, rather than directly from the occupational meaning.
One notable bearer of the name was Johannes Feldmann, a German mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1515 to 1584. He is known for his work on trigonometric tables and his contributions to the development of the Gregorian calendar.
Another distinguished individual with the surname Feldmann was Johann Friedrich Feldmann, a German composer and organist who lived from 1665 to 1717. He was widely respected for his skill in organ performance and composition, particularly his works for the church.
In the 19th century, Carl Friedrich Feldmann (1798-1876) was a prominent German jurist and legal scholar who served as a judge and professor of law at the University of Heidelberg.
The name Feldmann also has a notable presence in the field of literature, with authors such as Wilhelm Feldmann (1868-1919), a German novelist and playwright, and Hildegard Feldmann (1909-1999), an Austrian poet and writer.
While the name Feldmann is most commonly associated with Germany, it has also been found in other countries with German-speaking populations, such as Switzerland, Austria, and parts of Eastern Europe, likely due to migration and cultural exchange over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Feldmann
Among Census respondents with the surname Feldmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Feldmann 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 Feldmann surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.2% · 2,638
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 87
- Two or more races2.7% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 19
- Black or African American0.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Feldmann
Feldmann 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
#11,241
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,812
+191 bearers (+7.3%)
Per 100,000 0.95
Rank movement Down 128 places
2020
#10,766
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,830
+18 bearers (+0.6%)
Per 100,000 0.95
Rank movement Up 475 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,113 | 2,621 | 0.97 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,241 | 2,812 | 0.95 | +191 bearers (+7.3%) | Down 128 places |
| 2020 | #10,766 | 2,830 | 0.95 | +18 bearers (+0.6%) | Up 475 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 Feldmann 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 | #11,241 | #10,766 | 4.2% |
| Count | 2,812 | 2,830 | 0.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.95 | 0.95 | -0.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Feldmann bearers went from 2,812 to 2,830 (+0.6% change). The surname moved up 475 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,241 to #10,766.
FAQ
Feldmann surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Feldmann?
Name Census estimates that about 3,245 living Americans carry the surname Feldmann. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 105,625 residents.
How common is Feldmann?
Feldmann ranks #10,766 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.95 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 2,830 people with the surname Feldmann. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,245), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.95 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.95 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 Feldmann.
Has Feldmann become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Feldmann went from 2,812 recorded bearers to 2,830. That is an increase of 18 (+0.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #11,241 to #10,766.
What does the Census say about the background of Feldmann?
Among Census respondents with the surname Feldmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Feldmann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.2% (2,638 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Feldmann appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.2%), Hispanic (3.1%), Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Feldmann (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 Feldmann mean?
An occupational surname referring to a person who worked or lived in the fields or meadows. 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 Feldmann (0.95 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 Feldmann?
Find out how common the surname Feldmann is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.