2000
#10,097
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,943
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.09
Rare Last name
Goehring
A German occupational surname referring to a person who herds goats or sheep.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,256 Americans carry the last name Goehring. That puts it at #10,740 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.95 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 105,269 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Goehring 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
3.3K
1 in 105,269
Census rank
#10,740
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,839 bearers of the surname Goehring in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.95 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10740th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Goehring, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Goehring
The surname Goehring is of German origin, with roots dating back to the early medieval period. It is believed to have originated from the German term "gauer," which referred to a regional administrative district within the Holy Roman Empire. Individuals who held positions of authority or resided in these regions may have acquired the name Goehring or its variants, such as Gohring or Göhring.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Goehring can be traced back to the 13th century in various regional records and documents from Germany. One notable reference is found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, which mentions a "Henricus Goheringus" in the year 1284.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Goehring emerged in various regions of Germany, including Saxony, Brandenburg, and Silesia. It is possible that the name was also influenced by the German word "Göhrung," which means fermentation, suggesting potential connections to occupations related to brewing or winemaking.
In the 18th century, records show the presence of the Goehring family in the town of Hirschberg, located in the historical region of Silesia (now part of Poland). Johann Gottlieb Goehring, a prominent theologian and historian, was born in Hirschberg in 1718 and is known for his work on the history of the Silesian people.
Another notable figure bearing the Goehring name was Friedrich Wilhelm Goehring (1776-1837), a German jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor of law at the University of Erlangen. His contributions to the field of jurisprudence were significant during the early 19th century.
In the 20th century, one of the most well-known individuals with the surname Goehring was Hermann Wilhelm Goehring (1893-1989), a German physicist and Nobel laureate. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1925 for his pioneering work on X-ray crystallography, which laid the foundation for modern structural analysis techniques.
Additionally, the name Goehring has been associated with several other individuals throughout history, including Johann Friedrich Goehring (1777-1857), a German botanist and naturalist, and Carl Friedrich Goehring (1767-1833), a German painter and engraver known for his landscapes and portraits.
It is worth noting that while the surname Goehring is predominantly found in Germany and regions with historical German influence, it has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and immigration patterns over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Goehring
Among Census respondents with the surname Goehring, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Goehring 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 Goehring surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 2,649
- Two or more races3.0% · 86
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 74
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 15
- Black or African American0.3% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Goehring
Goehring 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
#10,924
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,913
-30 bearers (-1.0%)
Per 100,000 0.99
Rank movement Down 827 places
2020
#10,740
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,839
-74 bearers (-2.5%)
Per 100,000 0.95
Rank movement Up 184 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,097 | 2,943 | 1.09 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,924 | 2,913 | 0.99 | -30 bearers (-1.0%) | Down 827 places |
| 2020 | #10,740 | 2,839 | 0.95 | -74 bearers (-2.5%) | Up 184 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 Goehring 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 | #10,924 | #10,740 | 1.7% |
| Count | 2,913 | 2,839 | -2.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.99 | 0.95 | -4.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Goehring bearers went from 2,913 to 2,839 (-2.5% change). The surname moved up 184 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,924 to #10,740.
FAQ
Goehring surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Goehring?
Name Census estimates that about 3,256 living Americans carry the surname Goehring. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 105,269 residents.
How common is Goehring?
Goehring ranks #10,740 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.95 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,839 people with the surname Goehring. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,256), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.95 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.95 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Goehring.
Has Goehring become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Goehring went from 2,913 recorded bearers to 2,839. That is a decrease of 74 (-2.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #10,924 to #10,740.
What does the Census say about the background of Goehring?
Among Census respondents with the surname Goehring, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) 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 Goehring in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (2,649 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Goehring appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.3%), Two or More Races (3.0%), 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 Goehring (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 Goehring mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a person who herds goats or sheep. 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 Goehring (0.95 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 people have the last name Goehring?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Goehring at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.