2000
#128,797
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 122
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Getzloff
A Germanized form of the Slavic name Getzlav meaning "fortunate glory".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Getzloff. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Getzloff 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Getzloff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Getzloff, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Getzloff
The surname GETZLOFF is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the 14th century in the regions of Saxony and Brandenburg. It is derived from the Old German word "getzel," meaning "playful" or "mischievous," combined with the suffix "-loff," indicating a person or a profession.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the 1432 Stadtbuch (city book) of Leipzig, where a certain Hans Getzloff is mentioned as a resident. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the area by the mid-15th century.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the GETZLOFF name can be found in various church records and municipal documents across Saxony and Brandenburg, indicating its continued presence in these regions. Notable bearers of the name from this period include Johann Getzloff (1529-1594), a Lutheran pastor and theologian from Wittenberg, and Matthias Getzloff (1603-1672), a merchant and alderman in the town of Zittau.
In the 18th century, the GETZLOFF name spread beyond its traditional heartland, with records showing families bearing this surname in other parts of Germany, as well as in neighboring countries like Poland and the Netherlands. One prominent figure from this era was Friedrich Getzloff (1725-1801), a German-born painter and engraver who worked in the Netherlands and is known for his landscape paintings.
The 19th century saw further geographic dispersal of the GETZLOFF name, with several individuals emigrating to the United States and other parts of the world. Among these was Johann Getzloff (1812-1889), a German-born farmer who settled in Wisconsin and is considered one of the earliest bearers of the name in America.
Other notable individuals with the GETZLOFF surname include:
1. Wilhelm Getzloff (1857-1938), a German artist and painter known for his landscapes and genre scenes.
2. Erich Getzloff (1885-1964), a German sculptor and medalist active in the early 20th century.
3. Hans Getzloff (1908-1995), a German-born American architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City.
4. Karl-Heinz Getzloff (1924-2004), a German footballer who played as a defender for Hamburger SV in the 1950s.
5. Gerd Getzloff (born 1945), a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.
While the GETZLOFF name has spread across the globe over the centuries, its roots can be traced back to the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg, where it first emerged as a descriptive surname denoting a playful or mischievous person.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Getzloff
Among Census respondents with the surname Getzloff, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Getzloff 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 Getzloff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.5% · 107
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Getzloff
Getzloff 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
#140,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-3 bearers (-2.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 11,360 places
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-7 bearers (-5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,797 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #128,797 | 122 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #140,157 | 119 | 0.04 | -3 bearers (-2.5%) | Down 11,360 places |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | -7 bearers (-5.9%) | Down 7,797 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 Getzloff 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 | #140,157 | #147,954 | -5.6% |
| Count | 119 | 112 | -5.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Getzloff bearers went from 119 to 112 (-5.9% change). The surname moved down 7,797 positions in the national ranking, going from #140,157 to #147,954.
FAQ
Getzloff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Getzloff?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Getzloff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Getzloff?
Getzloff ranks #147,954 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 112 people with the surname Getzloff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), 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 Getzloff.
Has Getzloff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Getzloff went from 119 recorded bearers to 112. That is a decrease of 7 (-5.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #140,157 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Getzloff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Getzloff, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.5%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.8%). 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 Getzloff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (107 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Getzloff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.5%), American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%), Hispanic (1.8%). 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 Getzloff (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 Getzloff mean?
A Germanized form of the Slavic name Getzlav meaning "fortunate glory". 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 Getzloff (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 common is the surname Getzloff?
Find out how common the surname Getzloff is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.