2000
#14,022
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,973
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.73
Rare Last name
Heintzelman
An occupational surname derived from the German term for a linen weaver or worker.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,110 Americans carry the last name Heintzelman. That puts it at #15,355 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 162,443 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Heintzelman 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 162,443
Census rank
#15,355
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,840 bearers of the surname Heintzelman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15355th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Heintzelman, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.3%) and Hispanic (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Heintzelman
The surname Heintzelman is of German origin, derived from the geographic name "Heintz," which is a place name found in various regions of Germany. The name likely emerged during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century.
The surname Heintzelman can be traced back to the Rhineland region of Germany, where it was commonly found in areas such as the Palatinate and the Rhineland-Palatinate. The name is believed to have originated from a combination of the German words "Heintz," meaning "Henry," and "mann," meaning "man."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Heintzelman can be found in the records of the town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße, located in the Palatinate region of Germany, dating back to the 16th century. The name appeared in various spellings, including Heintzelmann, Heintzelmann, and Heintzelman.
In the 17th century, the Heintzelman family began to migrate to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One notable figure from this period was Johannes Heintzelman, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the late 1600s and became a prominent landowner in the region.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Heintzelman name gained prominence in the United States, with several individuals making significant contributions to various fields. Samuel Peter Heintzelman (1805-1880) was a career military officer who served in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War, where he achieved the rank of Major General in the Union Army.
Another prominent figure was Charles S. Heintzelman (1871-1941), an American architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City, including the Church of the Blessed Sacrament and the Pierpont Morgan Library.
In the realm of literature, Howard Heintzelman (1925-2013) was a renowned American poet and educator, known for his works such as "The Whale" and "The Further Suns."
The Heintzelman name has also been associated with various place names, such as Heintzelman Park in Philadelphia, named after Samuel Peter Heintzelman, and Heintzelman Ridge in Montana, named after a surveyor with the same surname.
Throughout its history, the Heintzelman surname has maintained its Germanic roots and has been carried by individuals who have made significant contributions across various fields, from military service to architecture and literature.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heintzelman
Among Census respondents with the surname Heintzelman, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.3%) and Hispanic (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Heintzelman 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 Heintzelman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.3% · 1,735
- Two or more races2.3% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 18
- Black or African American0.2% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Heintzelman
Heintzelman 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
#15,296
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,919
-54 bearers (-2.7%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 1,274 places
2020
#15,355
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,840
-79 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 59 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,022 | 1,973 | 0.73 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,296 | 1,919 | 0.65 | -54 bearers (-2.7%) | Down 1,274 places |
| 2020 | #15,355 | 1,840 | 0.62 | -79 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 59 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 Heintzelman 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 | #15,296 | #15,355 | -0.4% |
| Count | 1,919 | 1,840 | -4.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.65 | 0.62 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Heintzelman bearers went from 1,919 to 1,840 (-4.1% change). The surname moved down 59 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,296 to #15,355.
FAQ
Heintzelman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Heintzelman?
Name Census estimates that about 2,110 living Americans carry the surname Heintzelman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 162,443 residents.
How common is Heintzelman?
Heintzelman ranks #15,355 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 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 1,840 people with the surname Heintzelman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,110), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 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 Heintzelman.
Has Heintzelman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Heintzelman went from 1,919 recorded bearers to 1,840. That is a decrease of 79 (-4.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #15,296 to #15,355.
What does the Census say about the background of Heintzelman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Heintzelman, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.3%) 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 Heintzelman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (1,735 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Heintzelman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.3%), Two or More Races (2.3%), 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 Heintzelman (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 Heintzelman mean?
An occupational surname derived from the German term for a linen weaver or worker. 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 Heintzelman (0.62 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 Heintzelman?
See how many people have the last name Heintzelman on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.