2000
#117,538
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 137
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Folckemer
A Germanic surname derived from the ancient word "folk", referring to someone from a particular ethnic group or region.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 125 Americans carry the last name Folckemer. That puts it at #150,205 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,742,035 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Folckemer 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
125
1 in 2,742,035
Census rank
#150,205
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
109
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 109 bearers of the surname Folckemer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 150205th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Folckemer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Folckemer
The surname Folckemer has its origins in Germany, tracing back to the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "folc", meaning "people" or "folk", combined with the suffix "-mer", which denotes a place or locality. This suggests that the name may have referred to someone from a settlement or region associated with a particular group of people.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Folckemer can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from the 12th and 13th centuries. In this manuscript, a certain "Conradus Folckemer" is mentioned in a land transaction from the year 1237, indicating the presence of the name in the region of Saxony during that period.
The Folckemer name also appears in the Annales Quedlinburgenses, a chronicle written by the monks of the Quedlinburg Abbey in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The entry from the year 1289 mentions a "Johannes Folckemer" who was involved in a dispute over land rights, providing further evidence of the name's existence in medieval Germany.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Folckemer surname was Hans Folckemer, a merchant and landowner from the town of Nürnberg in Bavaria, who lived between 1415 and 1483. Records indicate that he was a prominent figure in the local guild system and owned several properties in the city.
Another notable individual with the Folckemer name was Johanna Folckemer, born in 1512 in the town of Augsburg, Germany. She was a renowned herbalist and midwife, known for her extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and her contributions to the field of obstetrics in the 16th century.
In the 17th century, the Folckemer family had a presence in the region of Hesse, as evidenced by the records of Philipp Folckemer, a Protestant clergyman who served as the pastor of the church in the town of Marburg from 1632 to 1674. His son, Johann Folckemer (1654-1721), followed in his footsteps and became a respected theologian and professor at the University of Marburg.
The Folckemer name also appears in historical documents from other regions of Germany, such as the Rhineland and Saxony, indicating its spread throughout various parts of the country over time. However, it is important to note that these are just a few examples, and the name's origins and history may extend beyond the information provided here.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Folckemer
Among Census respondents with the surname Folckemer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Folckemer 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 Folckemer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.7% · 101
- Two or more races4.6% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Folckemer
Folckemer 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
#133,863
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 126
-11 bearers (-8.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,325 places
2020
#150,205
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
-17 bearers (-13.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,342 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #117,538 | 137 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #133,863 | 126 | 0.04 | -11 bearers (-8.0%) | Down 16,325 places |
| 2020 | #150,205 | 109 | 0.04 | -17 bearers (-13.5%) | Down 16,342 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 Folckemer 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 | #133,863 | #150,205 | -12.2% |
| Count | 126 | 109 | -13.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -8.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Folckemer bearers went from 126 to 109 (-13.5% change). The surname moved down 16,342 positions in the national ranking, going from #133,863 to #150,205.
FAQ
Folckemer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Folckemer?
Name Census estimates that about 125 living Americans carry the surname Folckemer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,742,035 residents.
How common is Folckemer?
Folckemer ranks #150,205 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 109 people with the surname Folckemer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (125), 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 Folckemer.
Has Folckemer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Folckemer went from 126 recorded bearers to 109. That is a decrease of 17 (-13.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #133,863 to #150,205.
What does the Census say about the background of Folckemer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Folckemer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Folckemer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.7% (101 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Folckemer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.7%), Two or More Races (4.6%), Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Folckemer (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 Folckemer mean?
A Germanic surname derived from the ancient word "folk", referring to someone from a particular ethnic group or region. 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 Folckemer (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 Folckemer?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.