2000
#8,296
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,673
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.36
Rare Last name
Heins
A German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname derived from a shortened form of the personal name Heinrich or Henning.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,964 Americans carry the last name Heins. That puts it at #9,078 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.16 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 86,467 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Heins 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
4.0K
1 in 86,467
Census rank
#9,078
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,457 bearers of the surname Heins in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.16 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9078th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Heins, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Heins
The surname HEINS is of German origin, deriving from the medieval given name Heino, a short form of Germanic names beginning with "haid" or "haid," meaning "bright" or "shining." The name can be traced back to the 8th century, with early recorded instances in the Rhineland and Saxony regions of present-day Germany.
In its earliest form, the name was spelled as "Heino" or "Heine," with variations such as "Heinz," "Heintz," and "Heins" emerging over time. These variations likely stemmed from regional dialects and scribal interpretations during the Middle Ages.
The name appears in several historical records, including the Codex Diplomaticus Anhaltinus, a 12th-century collection of documents from the Anhalt region of Germany, where a noble named "Heino de Hildesheim" is mentioned in a charter from 1180.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname HEINS was Johann Heins, a 15th-century German scholar and theologian born in Nuremberg around 1430. He served as a professor at the University of Erfurt and authored several theological works during the Renaissance era.
Another notable figure was Pieter Heins, a Dutch naval officer and explorer born in 1577 in Leiden. He commanded several expeditions to the East Indies and was instrumental in establishing Dutch colonial settlements in present-day Indonesia.
In the 17th century, Johann Heins, a German composer and organist from Dresden, gained recognition for his contributions to sacred music. He was born in 1605 and served as the court organist for the Elector of Saxony.
The surname HEINS has also been associated with various place names throughout Germany, such as Heinsbach, a town in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and Heinsberg, a city in the North Rhine-Westphalia region.
One of the most renowned individuals with the surname HEINS was Ernst Heins, a German-American artist and illustrator born in 1902 in Dresden. He emigrated to the United States in the 1920s and became famous for his illustrations in magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and Life, capturing the essence of American life in the mid-20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heins
Among Census respondents with the surname Heins, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Heins 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 Heins surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 3,189
- Two or more races3.2% · 109
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 86
- Black or African American1.2% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Heins
Heins 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
#8,728
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,757
+84 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 1.27
Rank movement Down 432 places
2020
#9,078
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,457
-300 bearers (-8.0%)
Per 100,000 1.16
Rank movement Down 350 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,296 | 3,673 | 1.36 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,728 | 3,757 | 1.27 | +84 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 432 places |
| 2020 | #9,078 | 3,457 | 1.16 | -300 bearers (-8.0%) | Down 350 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 Heins 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 | #8,728 | #9,078 | -4.0% |
| Count | 3,757 | 3,457 | -8.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.27 | 1.16 | -8.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Heins bearers went from 3,757 to 3,457 (-8.0% change). The surname moved down 350 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,728 to #9,078.
FAQ
Heins surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Heins?
Name Census estimates that about 3,964 living Americans carry the surname Heins. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 86,467 residents.
How common is Heins?
Heins ranks #9,078 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.16 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 3,457 people with the surname Heins. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,964), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.16 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.16 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 Heins.
Has Heins become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Heins went from 3,757 recorded bearers to 3,457. That is a decrease of 300 (-8.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,728 to #9,078.
What does the Census say about the background of Heins?
Among Census respondents with the surname Heins, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Heins in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (3,189 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Heins appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Heins (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 Heins mean?
A German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) surname derived from a shortened form of the personal name Heinrich or Henning. 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 Heins (1.16 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 Heins?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Heins at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.