2000
#4,842
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,650
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.47
Rare Last name
Feller
An occupational surname referring to a woodcutter or lumberjack, derived from the German word "Fäller."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,698 Americans carry the last name Feller. That puts it at #5,715 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.95 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 51,173 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Feller 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Feller with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.7K
1 in 51,173
Census rank
#5,715
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,841 bearers of the surname Feller in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.95 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5715th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Feller, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Feller
The surname Feller is of German origin, derived from the German word "Feller," meaning "a worker in animal skins or furs." The name likely emerged in the Middle Ages, when the trade of working with animal hides was prevalent in various parts of Germany.
The earliest known record of the surname Feller dates back to the 13th century, appearing in historical documents from the regions of Bavaria and Saxony. The name was also found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval charters and documents from Saxony, from as early as 1275.
In the 14th century, the name Feller appeared in the Bürgerverzeichnis, or citizen registers, of several German cities, including Cologne, Nuremberg, and Frankfurt. This suggests that individuals with this surname were established citizens and tradesmen in these urban centers during that time.
One notable figure bearing the surname Feller was Johann Feller, a German theologian and author who lived from 1638 to 1691. His most famous work, "Monumenta Varia Inedita," was a collection of unpublished historical documents and manuscripts.
Another prominent individual with the surname Feller was Johann Gottlieb Feller, a Swiss writer and historian who lived from 1735 to 1801. He is best known for his work "Dictionnaire Historique," a biographical dictionary that covered notable figures from ancient times to the 18th century.
In the 19th century, the surname Feller was associated with several famous individuals, including Friedrich Ernst Feller, a German mathematician and statistician who lived from 1801 to 1869. He made significant contributions to the fields of probability theory and statistics.
Another notable figure was Wilhelm Feller, a Croatian-American mathematician who lived from 1906 to 1970. He was a pioneer in the field of probability theory and authored the influential textbook "An Introduction to Probability Theory and Its Applications."
The surname Feller has also been found in various place names throughout Germany, such as Fellerdorf, a village in Saxony-Anhalt, and Fellerbach, a small town in Bavaria. These place names likely originated from individuals bearing the Feller surname who settled in those areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Feller
Among Census respondents with the surname Feller, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Feller 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 Feller surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 5,386
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 191
- Two or more races2.8% · 166
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 42
- Black or African American0.6% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 23
Timeline
Historical Census data for Feller
Feller 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
#4,963
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,085
+435 bearers (+6.5%)
Per 100,000 2.40
Rank movement Down 121 places
2020
#5,715
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,841
-1,244 bearers (-17.6%)
Per 100,000 1.95
Rank movement Down 752 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,842 | 6,650 | 2.47 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,963 | 7,085 | 2.40 | +435 bearers (+6.5%) | Down 121 places |
| 2020 | #5,715 | 5,841 | 1.95 | -1,244 bearers (-17.6%) | Down 752 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 Feller 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 | #4,963 | #5,715 | -15.2% |
| Count | 7,085 | 5,841 | -17.6% |
| Per 100K | 2.40 | 1.95 | -18.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Feller bearers went from 7,085 to 5,841 (-17.6% change). The surname moved down 752 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,963 to #5,715.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Feller
FAQ
Feller surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Feller?
Name Census estimates that about 6,698 living Americans carry the surname Feller. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 51,173 residents.
How common is Feller?
Feller ranks #5,715 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.95 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,841 people with the surname Feller. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,698), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.95 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.95 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Feller.
Has Feller become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Feller went from 7,085 recorded bearers to 5,841. That is a decrease of 1,244 (-17.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,963 to #5,715.
What does the Census say about the background of Feller?
Among Census respondents with the surname Feller, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.3%) and Two or More Races (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 Feller in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (5,386 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Feller appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Hispanic (3.3%), Two or More Races (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 Feller (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 Feller mean?
An occupational surname referring to a woodcutter or lumberjack, derived from the German word "Fäller." 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 Feller (1.95 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 many Americans have the surname Feller?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.