2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Grothmann
A habitational name for someone from any of several places called Grothe or Groth in northern Germany.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 114 Americans carry the last name Grothmann. That puts it at #156,005 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,006,617 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Grothmann 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
114
1 in 3,006,617
Census rank
#156,005
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
99
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 99 bearers of the surname Grothmann in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 156005th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Grothmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Hispanic (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Grothmann
The surname GROTHMANN originated in the northern regions of Germany during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old German words "groth" meaning "overgrown" or "untamed" and "mann" meaning "man," suggesting a connection to someone living in a heavily forested or overgrown area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the GROTHMANN name can be found in the town records of Lübeck, a prominent Hanseatic city in present-day Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. In 1472, a merchant named Hans GROTHMANN is mentioned as a member of the local guild.
The name also appears in the archives of the city of Hamburg, where a Johann GROTHMANN is listed as a landowner in the village of Alsterdorf in the late 15th century. This area, now a part of the metropolitan region, was once a rural settlement surrounded by dense woodlands.
As the GROTHMANN family spread across northern Germany, variations in spelling emerged, such as GROTHMAN, GROTEMAN, and GROTEMANN. These different forms can be found in historical documents from the 16th and 17th centuries in regions like Mecklenburg, Holstein, and Pomerania.
One notable individual bearing the GROTHMANN name was Johann Friedrich GROTHMANN, a Lutheran theologian and philosopher born in Hildesheim in 1676. He authored several works on religious doctrine and ethics, and served as a professor at the University of Rostock until his death in 1737.
Another prominent figure was August Wilhelm GROTHMANN, a German jurist and statesman from Hanover, who lived from 1785 to 1853. He held influential positions in the government of the Kingdom of Hanover and played a role in the drafting of legal codes and constitutional reforms.
In the realm of literature, the poet and playwright Detlev von GROTHMANN, born in Mecklenburg in 1781, gained recognition for his works in the Romantic style. His plays and poems often explored themes of nature and the human condition.
During the 19th century, the GROTHMANN name also spread to other parts of Europe and beyond, as families emigrated from Germany. For instance, Carl Friedrich GROTHMANN, born in 1820 in Pomerania, became a prominent merchant and landowner in South Australia after immigrating to the colony in the 1840s.
While the GROTHMANN surname may have originated from humble beginnings in the northern German countryside, it has since been carried by individuals who have left their mark in various fields, from theology and law to literature and commerce, across several centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Grothmann
Among Census respondents with the surname Grothmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Hispanic (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Grothmann 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 Grothmann surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.9% · 87
- Two or more races7.1% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Grothmann
Grothmann appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#156,005
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 99
-4 bearers (-3.9%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 1,229 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #156,005 | 99 | 0.03 | -4 bearers (-3.9%) | Up 1,229 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 Grothmann 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 | #157,234 | #156,005 | 0.8% |
| Count | 103 | 99 | -3.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.03 | 10.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Grothmann bearers went from 103 to 99 (-3.9% change). The surname moved up 1,229 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #156,005.
FAQ
Grothmann surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Grothmann?
Name Census estimates that about 114 living Americans carry the surname Grothmann. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,006,617 residents.
How common is Grothmann?
Grothmann ranks #156,005 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 99 people with the surname Grothmann. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (114), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Grothmann.
Has Grothmann become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Grothmann went from 103 recorded bearers to 99. That is a decrease of 4 (-3.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #156,005.
What does the Census say about the background of Grothmann?
Among Census respondents with the surname Grothmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Hispanic (3.0%). 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 Grothmann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (87 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Grothmann appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.9%), Two or More Races (7.1%), Hispanic (3.0%). 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 Grothmann (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 Grothmann mean?
A habitational name for someone from any of several places called Grothe or Groth in northern Germany. 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 Grothmann (0.03 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 surname Grothmann?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.