2000
#2,612
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,707
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.71
Uncommon Last name
Fuchs
A German surname derived from the Middle High German word "vuhs," meaning "fox," likely referring to a sly or cunning person.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 14,313 Americans carry the last name Fuchs. That puts it at #2,807 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.18 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 23,947 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Fuchs 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 Fuchs with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
14K
1 in 23,947
Census rank
#2,807
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
12K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 12,482 bearers of the surname Fuchs in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.18 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2807th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Fuchs, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Fuchs
The surname Fuchs is of German origin, derived from the Old High German word 'fuhs' meaning 'fox'. It was originally an occupational name for a hunter or fur trader, or a nickname referring to someone with reddish-brown hair or a cunning personality like a fox.
The name can be traced back to the 12th century, with records showing variations such as Fuhse, Fuchse, and Vuchse. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Henricus Fuhse, mentioned in the Codex Traditionum Westfalicarum, a collection of medieval manuscripts from Westphalia, Germany, around 1200 AD.
In the 13th century, the name appeared in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a compilation of documents from the Margraviate of Brandenburg. A certain Thidericus Vuchse was documented in this record from 1265.
The Fuchs surname is also linked to various place names across Germany, such as Fuchsstadt, Fuchsmühl, and Fuchshausen, indicating that some bearers of the name may have derived their surname from these locations.
Notable individuals with the surname Fuchs include Johannes Fuchs (1501-1566), a German botanist and physician, and Remigius Fuchs (1572-1615), a German mathematician and astronomer. In the 18th century, Gottlieb Fuchs (1722-1795) was a renowned German painter and engraver.
Other prominent bearers of the name include Ernst Fuchs (1851-1923), an Austrian chemist and industrialist who founded the modern chemical industry in Austria, and Georg Fuchs (1890-1949), a German politician and member of the Nazi party during World War II.
The surname Fuchs has also been carried by various artists, writers, and academics throughout history, such as the German painter Katharina Fuchs (1892-1967), the American writer Larry Fuchs (1925-2011), and the German political scientist Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski (born 1934).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fuchs
Among Census respondents with the surname Fuchs, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Fuchs 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 Fuchs surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.0% · 11,489
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 470
- Two or more races2.7% · 332
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 122
- Black or African American0.4% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Fuchs
Fuchs 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
#2,784
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,958
+251 bearers (+2.0%)
Per 100,000 4.39
Rank movement Down 172 places
2020
#2,807
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,482
-476 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 4.18
Rank movement Down 23 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,612 | 12,707 | 4.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,784 | 12,958 | 4.39 | +251 bearers (+2.0%) | Down 172 places |
| 2020 | #2,807 | 12,482 | 4.18 | -476 bearers (-3.7%) | Down 23 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 Fuchs 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 | #2,784 | #2,807 | -0.8% |
| Count | 12,958 | 12,482 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 4.39 | 4.18 | -4.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Fuchs bearers went from 12,958 to 12,482 (-3.7% change). The surname moved down 23 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,784 to #2,807.
FAQ
Fuchs surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Fuchs?
Name Census estimates that about 14,313 living Americans carry the surname Fuchs. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 23,947 residents.
How common is Fuchs?
Fuchs ranks #2,807 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.18 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 12,482 people with the surname Fuchs. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (14,313), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4.18 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.18 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Fuchs.
Has Fuchs become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Fuchs went from 12,958 recorded bearers to 12,482. That is a decrease of 476 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,784 to #2,807.
What does the Census say about the background of Fuchs?
Among Census respondents with the surname Fuchs, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) 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 Fuchs in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.0% (11,489 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Fuchs appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.0%), Hispanic (3.8%), 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 Fuchs (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 Fuchs mean?
A German surname derived from the Middle High German word "vuhs," meaning "fox," likely referring to a sly or cunning person. 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 Fuchs (4.18 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 Fuchs?
You can see how many Americans have the surname Fuchs on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.