2000
#131,366
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Heerman
From German, meaning "army man" or "soldier".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Heerman. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Heerman 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
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Heerman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Heerman, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and Hispanic (5.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Heerman
The surname HEERMAN originated in Germany. It first appeared in the 14th century in the region of Westphalia, where it was derived from the Low German word "heer," meaning lord or master. The name was likely given to someone who held a position of authority or who owned a large estate.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name HEERMAN can be found in a document from 1387, which mentions a Johannes Heerman from the town of Soest in Westphalia. Another early reference is in the Kirchenbücher (church records) of Arnsberg, where a Henricus Heerman is listed as having been born in 1412.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the HEERMAN name began to spread beyond Westphalia to other parts of Germany. In 1562, a Johann HEERMAN was born in the city of Ratzeburg in northern Germany. He became a prominent Lutheran theologian and hymnwriter, known for composing the hymn "Herr, mach uns fertig allezeit" (Lord, make us ready at all times).
In the 18th century, the HEERMAN name appears in records from the city of Hamburg, where a merchant named Johann Christoph HEERMAN (1700-1768) was a respected member of the local business community. Around the same time, a family of HEERMANs lived in the town of Lübeck, including the brothers Johann Friedrich HEERMAN (1723-1795) and Gottfried HEERMAN (1725-1802), who were both clergymen.
As German emigration to North America increased in the 19th century, the HEERMAN surname began to appear in records from various parts of the United States and Canada. One notable bearer of the name was Hermann HEERMAN (1809-1851), a German-American artist and naturalist who studied birds in the American West. His work "Notes on the Birds of California" was an important early contribution to the field of ornithology in the region.
Another significant figure with the HEERMAN surname was Johann Gottlieb HEERMAN (1743-1825), a German-American clockmaker and cabinetmaker who settled in Philadelphia in the late 18th century. His work is highly regarded by collectors and historians of early American furniture and timepieces.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heerman
Among Census respondents with the surname Heerman, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and Hispanic (5.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Heerman 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 Heerman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.8% · 95
- Two or more races9.2% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 7
- Black or African American5.0% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Heerman
Heerman 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
#129,825
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 131
+12 bearers (+10.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 1,541 places
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-12 bearers (-9.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 12,963 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #131,366 | 119 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #129,825 | 131 | 0.04 | +12 bearers (+10.1%) | Up 1,541 places |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | -12 bearers (-9.2%) | Down 12,963 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 Heerman 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 | #129,825 | #142,788 | -10.0% |
| Count | 131 | 119 | -9.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Heerman bearers went from 131 to 119 (-9.2% change). The surname moved down 12,963 positions in the national ranking, going from #129,825 to #142,788.
FAQ
Heerman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Heerman?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Heerman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Heerman?
Heerman ranks #142,788 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 119 people with the surname Heerman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), 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 Heerman.
Has Heerman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Heerman went from 131 recorded bearers to 119. That is a decrease of 12 (-9.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #129,825 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Heerman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Heerman, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.2%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Heerman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.8% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Heerman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (79.8%), Two or More Races (9.2%), Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Heerman (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 Heerman mean?
From German, meaning "army man" or "soldier". 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 Heerman (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 many people share the surname Heerman?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.