2000
#130,443
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Guggenheimer
A German locational surname derived from the place name Guggenheim, meaning "home on the hill".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Guggenheimer. 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 Guggenheimer 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 Guggenheimer 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 Guggenheimer, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Guggenheimer
The surname Guggenheimer has its origins in the German-speaking regions of Europe, likely emerging in the late medieval period or early modern era. The name is thought to be derived from the German words "Guggen" and "heim," which translate to "hood" and "home" respectively, potentially indicating an occupation or place of residence associated with the production of hoods or cloaks.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the town records of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a well-preserved medieval town in Bavaria, Germany. In the 16th century, a merchant named Hans Guggenheimer is mentioned in connection with the local textile trade, suggesting that the name may have initially been associated with the clothing industry.
In the 17th century, the Guggenheimer family appears to have established itself in the city of Nuremberg, a prominent center of trade and commerce in the Holy Roman Empire. Records from this period mention a Jakob Guggenheimer, a successful merchant and member of the city's influential guilds.
As the Guggenheimer family continued to prosper, they branched out to other regions of Germany and neighboring countries. One notable figure was Johann Guggenheimer (1722-1789), a respected scholar and theologian who served as a professor at the University of Heidelberg.
In the 19th century, the Guggenheimer name gained prominence in the field of finance and banking. August Guggenheimer (1814-1891), a prominent banker from Frankfurt, played a significant role in the development of the city's financial sector and was a major philanthropist, supporting various educational and cultural institutions.
Another notable individual with the Guggenheimer surname was the artist and illustrator Moritz Guggenheimer (1825-1897), whose works were widely admired during the Biedermeier period and are now housed in several prestigious museums across Europe.
As the Guggenheimer family continued to spread throughout Germany and beyond, the spelling of the name occasionally varied, with variations such as Guggenheymer or Gugenheimer appearing in certain regions or historical documents.
While the Guggenheimer name is most closely associated with its German origins, it has also been carried by individuals of diverse backgrounds and nationalities, reflecting the migration patterns and cultural exchanges that have shaped the modern world.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Guggenheimer
Among Census respondents with the surname Guggenheimer, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Guggenheimer 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 Guggenheimer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.2% · 110
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Guggenheimer
Guggenheimer 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
#124,548
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 138
+18 bearers (+15.0%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Up 5,895 places
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-26 bearers (-18.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 23,406 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #130,443 | 120 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #124,548 | 138 | 0.05 | +18 bearers (+15.0%) | Up 5,895 places |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | -26 bearers (-18.8%) | Down 23,406 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 Guggenheimer 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 | #124,548 | #147,954 | -18.8% |
| Count | 138 | 112 | -18.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -25.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Guggenheimer bearers went from 138 to 112 (-18.8% change). The surname moved down 23,406 positions in the national ranking, going from #124,548 to #147,954.
FAQ
Guggenheimer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Guggenheimer?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Guggenheimer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Guggenheimer?
Guggenheimer 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 Guggenheimer. 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 Guggenheimer.
Has Guggenheimer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Guggenheimer went from 138 recorded bearers to 112. That is a decrease of 26 (-18.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #124,548 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Guggenheimer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Guggenheimer, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.2%. The next largest groups are Black (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). 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 Guggenheimer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.2% (110 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Guggenheimer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.2%), Black (0.9%), Two or More Races (0.9%). 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 Guggenheimer (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 Guggenheimer mean?
A German locational surname derived from the place name Guggenheim, meaning "home on the hill". 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 Guggenheimer (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 Guggenheimer?
If you just want to know how many people are called Guggenheimer, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.