2000
#14,671
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,858
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.69
Rare Last name
Gundlach
A surname of Germanic origin meaning "son of Gundlach", a personal name formed from the elements "gund" (war) and "lach" (dweller).
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,090 Americans carry the last name Gundlach. That puts it at #15,476 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.61 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 163,997 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gundlach 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
2.1K
1 in 163,997
Census rank
#15,476
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,823 bearers of the surname Gundlach in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.61 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15476th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gundlach, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gundlach
The surname GUNDLACH is of German origin, deriving from the Germanic personal name Gundlach, which itself is a compound of the elements "gund" meaning "battle" and "lach" meaning "play" or "sport." It likely emerged during the Middle Ages, between the 5th and 15th centuries, in the regions that now comprise modern-day Germany.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the GUNDLACH surname can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from the region of Westphalia, Germany, dating back to the 13th century. The name appears in various spellings, including Gundlach, Gundlachs, and Gundlache, throughout these ancient records.
In the 14th century, a knight named Konrad Gundlach is mentioned in the chronicles of the city of Nuremberg, suggesting that the name was associated with nobility during that time period. Additionally, the town of Gundlach, located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, may have derived its name from an early bearer of the GUNDLACH surname, although the exact origins of the place name are unclear.
Notable individuals with the GUNDLACH surname throughout history include:
1. Johann Gundlach (1638-1706), a German composer and organist who served as Kapellmeister in the court of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach.
2. Christian Gundlach (1759-1839), a German theologian and philosopher who taught at the University of Marburg.
3. Ernst Gundlach (1834-1908), a German botanist and naturalist who conducted extensive research on the flora of Cuba and Puerto Rico.
4. Johann Gundlach (1855-1931), a German-American optician and founder of the Gundlach-Manhattan Optical Company, known for developing high-quality camera lenses and telescopes.
5. Jörg Michael Gundlach (born 1957), a German mathematician and professor at the University of Bonn, known for his contributions to differential geometry and global analysis.
While the GUNDLACH surname has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world through emigration, particularly to North America and other regions with significant German diaspora populations.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gundlach
Among Census respondents with the surname Gundlach, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Gundlach 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 Gundlach surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.9% · 1,693
- Two or more races3.7% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
- Black or African American0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gundlach
Gundlach 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
#15,985
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,816
-42 bearers (-2.3%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 1,314 places
2020
#15,476
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,823
+7 bearers (+0.4%)
Per 100,000 0.61
Rank movement Up 509 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,671 | 1,858 | 0.69 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,985 | 1,816 | 0.62 | -42 bearers (-2.3%) | Down 1,314 places |
| 2020 | #15,476 | 1,823 | 0.61 | +7 bearers (+0.4%) | Up 509 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 Gundlach 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 | #15,985 | #15,476 | 3.2% |
| Count | 1,816 | 1,823 | 0.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.62 | 0.61 | -1.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gundlach bearers went from 1,816 to 1,823 (+0.4% change). The surname moved up 509 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,985 to #15,476.
FAQ
Gundlach surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gundlach?
Name Census estimates that about 2,090 living Americans carry the surname Gundlach. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 163,997 residents.
How common is Gundlach?
Gundlach ranks #15,476 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.61 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 1,823 people with the surname Gundlach. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,090), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.61 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.61 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 Gundlach.
Has Gundlach become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gundlach went from 1,816 recorded bearers to 1,823. That is an increase of 7 (+0.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #15,985 to #15,476.
What does the Census say about the background of Gundlach?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gundlach, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Gundlach in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.9% (1,693 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gundlach appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.9%), Two or More Races (3.7%), Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Gundlach (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 Gundlach mean?
A surname of Germanic origin meaning "son of Gundlach", a personal name formed from the elements "gund" (war) and "lach" (dweller). 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 Gundlach (0.61 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 Gundlach?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.