2000
#124,109
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 128
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Flieder
A German surname derived from the word for lilac or lilac bush.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Flieder. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Flieder 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
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Flieder in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Flieder, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Flieder
The surname Flieder is of German origin, stemming from the Middle High German word "vlieder," which referred to the shrub known as the lilac. This name likely originated as a descriptive surname, referring to someone who lived near or cultivated lilac bushes.
The earliest known recorded instance of the Flieder surname dates back to the 14th century in the region of Bavaria, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time. Specifically, the name appears in a 1387 deed from the town of Nuremberg, where a certain Hans Flieder is mentioned as a witness.
In the 16th century, during the Protestant Reformation, the Flieder name can be found in various church records and documents from the German states. One notable example is Martin Flieder (1528-1598), a Lutheran theologian and professor at the University of Wittenberg, where he studied under Martin Luther himself.
As the centuries progressed, the Flieder name spread beyond Bavaria to other regions of Germany and neighboring countries. In the 18th century, Johann Christian Flieder (1717-1797) was a prominent clockmaker and instrument maker in the city of Leipzig.
Another notable bearer of the Flieder surname was Karl Friedrich Flieder (1811-1886), a German landscape painter and etcher who was part of the Düsseldorf school of painting. His works often depicted rural scenes and landscapes of the Rhineland region.
During the 19th century, the Flieder name also appeared in Austrian records, such as those of Johann Flieder (1839-1907), an Austrian sculptor and woodcarver who worked in Vienna and created intricate religious sculptures and altarpieces for churches throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
As German and Austrian immigrants began to settle in other parts of the world, they brought the Flieder surname with them. One example is Frederick Flieder (1875-1948), a German-American painter and illustrator who spent most of his career in New York City, where he became known for his illustrations in magazines and children's books.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Flieder
Among Census respondents with the surname Flieder, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Flieder 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 Flieder surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.6% · 103
- Two or more races7.0% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 3
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Flieder
Flieder 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
#136,449
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 123
-5 bearers (-3.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 12,340 places
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-8 bearers (-6.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,308 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #124,109 | 128 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #136,449 | 123 | 0.04 | -5 bearers (-3.9%) | Down 12,340 places |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-6.5%) | Down 9,308 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 Flieder 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 | #136,449 | #145,757 | -6.8% |
| Count | 123 | 115 | -6.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Flieder bearers went from 123 to 115 (-6.5% change). The surname moved down 9,308 positions in the national ranking, going from #136,449 to #145,757.
FAQ
Flieder surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Flieder?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Flieder. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Flieder?
Flieder ranks #145,757 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 115 people with the surname Flieder. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), 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 Flieder.
Has Flieder become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Flieder went from 123 recorded bearers to 115. That is a decrease of 8 (-6.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #136,449 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Flieder?
Among Census respondents with the surname Flieder, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.0%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Flieder in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.6% (103 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Flieder appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.6%), Two or More Races (7.0%), Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Flieder (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 Flieder mean?
A German surname derived from the word for lilac or lilac bush. 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 Flieder (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 people have the last name Flieder?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Flieder at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.