2000
#10,692
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,742
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.02
Rare Last name
Heider
A German occupational surname referring to someone who clears or cultivates land, derived from the Middle High German word "heiden".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,720 Americans carry the last name Heider. That puts it at #12,479 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.79 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 126,013 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Heider 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
2.7K
1 in 126,013
Census rank
#12,479
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,372 bearers of the surname Heider in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.79 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12479th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Heider, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Heider
The surname HEIDER has its origins in Germany, with the earliest records dating back to the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the German word "heide," meaning "heath" or "uncultivated land." This suggests that the name may have been originally associated with people who lived or worked in heathland areas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name HEIDER can be found in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Sancti Petri Salisburgensis, a 12th-century manuscript from the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter's in Salzburg, Austria. The document mentions a certain "Heiderus de Lonsdorf" in 1172.
In the 13th century, the name HEIDER appears in various German records, often with variations in spelling, such as "Heidere," "Heidher," or "Heidhir." Some of these early mentions include Conradus Heider, a landowner in Thuringia in 1254, and Heinricus Heidher, a burgher in Nuremberg in 1293.
During the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, the HEIDER name continued to be present in various regions of Germany. Notable individuals from this time include Johannes Heider (1497-1560), a German Catholic theologian and philosopher, and Christoph Heider (1578-1624), a German composer and organist.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the HEIDER family spread to other parts of Europe, including Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. One notable figure was Georg Heider (1672-1737), a German-Austrian architect who designed several churches and palaces in Vienna and Lower Austria.
As the surname HEIDER continued to evolve, it also gave rise to various place names and toponyms in Germany and Austria, such as Heidersbach, Heidersfeld, and Heiderstetten. Some of these place names may have influenced the spelling or pronunciation of the surname in certain regions.
Other notable individuals with the surname HEIDER include Friedrich Heider (1896-1988), an Austrian-American psychologist and one of the founders of attribution theory, and Walter Heider (1919-2001), an American anthropologist and filmmaker known for his work on the Dani people of New Guinea.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heider
Among Census respondents with the surname Heider, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Heider 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 Heider surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 2,189
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 71
- Two or more races2.9% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 10
- Black or African American0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Heider
Heider 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
#11,264
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,807
+65 bearers (+2.4%)
Per 100,000 0.95
Rank movement Down 572 places
2020
#12,479
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,372
-435 bearers (-15.5%)
Per 100,000 0.79
Rank movement Down 1,215 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,692 | 2,742 | 1.02 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,264 | 2,807 | 0.95 | +65 bearers (+2.4%) | Down 572 places |
| 2020 | #12,479 | 2,372 | 0.79 | -435 bearers (-15.5%) | Down 1,215 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 Heider 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 | #11,264 | #12,479 | -10.8% |
| Count | 2,807 | 2,372 | -15.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.95 | 0.79 | -16.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Heider bearers went from 2,807 to 2,372 (-15.5% change). The surname moved down 1,215 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,264 to #12,479.
FAQ
Heider surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Heider?
Name Census estimates that about 2,720 living Americans carry the surname Heider. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 126,013 residents.
How common is Heider?
Heider ranks #12,479 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.79 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 2,372 people with the surname Heider. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,720), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.79 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.79 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 Heider.
Has Heider become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Heider went from 2,807 recorded bearers to 2,372. That is a decrease of 435 (-15.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,264 to #12,479.
What does the Census say about the background of Heider?
Among Census respondents with the surname Heider, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Heider in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (2,189 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Heider appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (3.0%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Heider (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 Heider mean?
A German occupational surname referring to someone who clears or cultivates land, derived from the Middle High German word "heiden". 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 Heider (0.79 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 last name Heider?
Find out how many Americans have the surname Heider on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.