2000
#130,443
National surname rank
First available Census row
A German habitational surname referring to someone from a place called Hadwig.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 130 Americans carry the last name Hadwiger. That puts it at #147,221 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,636,572 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hadwiger 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
130
1 in 2,636,572
Census rank
#147,221
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
113
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 113 bearers of the surname Hadwiger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147221st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hadwiger, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%).
Origin
The surname Hadwiger is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the early medieval period. It is believed to have originated in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in the areas around Bavaria and Swabia.
The name Hadwiger is derived from the Old German personal name "Hadwig," which itself is a combination of two elements – "hadu" meaning "battle" and "wig" meaning "warrior" or "fighter." This suggests that the name may have been initially bestowed upon a formidable warrior or someone renowned for their military prowess.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hadwiger can be found in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Reichenbacensis, a medieval manuscript dating back to the 11th century. This codex contains records of land transactions and donations made to the Reichenbach Abbey in Lower Bavaria.
In the 13th century, the name appears in various municipal records and charters across southern Germany, such as the Würzburg Codex and the Landshut Codex. These documents mention individuals bearing the name Hadwiger, often in connection with land ownership or official duties.
Notable individuals with the surname Hadwiger throughout history include:
1. Konrad Hadwiger (c. 1290 – 1358), a prominent landowner and knight from the region of Swabia.
2. Hildegard Hadwiger (1512 – 1578), a renowned herbalist and healer from the town of Augsburg.
3. Johannes Hadwiger (1640 – 1712), a respected Lutheran theologian and author from Nuremberg.
4. Friedrich Hadwiger (1781 – 1846), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics.
5. Hugo Hadwiger (1908 – 1981), a Swiss mathematician known for his work in combinatorics and geometry, including the Hadwiger-Nelson problem.
The name Hadwiger has also been linked to various place names throughout southern Germany, such as Hadwigersdorf (now part of the town of Dingolfing) and Hadwigerhof (a former farm estate near Landshut). These place names likely originated from individuals bearing the surname Hadwiger who once owned or resided in those locations.
Demographics
Among Census respondents with the surname Hadwiger, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Hadwiger 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 Hadwiger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
Timeline
Hadwiger 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.
2000
National surname rank
First available Census row
2010
National surname rank
-6 bearers (-5.0%)
2020
National surname rank
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #130,443 | 120 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 14,777 places |
| 2020 | #147,221 | 113 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Down 2,001 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
How has the Hadwiger surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #145,220 | #147,221 | -1.4% |
| Count | 114 | 113 | -0.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hadwiger bearers went from 114 to 113 (-0.9% change). The surname moved down 2,001 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #147,221.
FAQ
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the surname Hadwiger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,636,572 residents.
Hadwiger ranks #147,221 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.
The raw 2020 Census file counted 113 people with the surname Hadwiger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (130), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
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 Hadwiger.
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hadwiger went from 114 recorded bearers to 113. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #147,221.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hadwiger, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Hadwiger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.2% (103 people in the source table).
Hadwiger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.2%), Two or More Races (4.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (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.
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 Hadwiger (2000, 2010, 2020).
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.
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.
A German habitational surname referring to someone from a place called Hadwig. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
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.
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 Hadwiger (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.
You can see how common the surname Hadwiger is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.