2000
#9,323
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,210
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.19
Rare Last name
Heitman
An occupational surname of German origin, referring to a person who guards or watches over something.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,378 Americans carry the last name Heitman. That puts it at #10,410 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.99 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 101,467 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Heitman 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
3.4K
1 in 101,467
Census rank
#10,410
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,946 bearers of the surname Heitman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.99 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10410th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Heitman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Heitman
The surname Heitman is believed to have originated in Germany, with the earliest records dating back to the 16th century. Its roots can be traced back to the German word "heit," which means "heath" or "heathland," suggesting that the name may have been a topographic one, referring to someone who lived near or on a heath.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Heitman can be found in the parish records of the town of Bückeburg, located in Lower Saxony, Germany. Here, the name appears as "Heitmann" in the late 1500s, indicating its presence in the region during that time period.
The name Heitman has also been documented in historical records from other parts of Germany, such as the Rhineland and Westphalia. In these areas, the name was sometimes spelled as "Heitmann" or "Heytmann," reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling.
In the 17th century, a notable figure bearing the surname Heitman was Johann Heitman, a German mathematician and astronomer born in 1623 in the city of Göttingen. He is known for his contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and his work on calculating the orbits of comets.
Another significant individual with the surname Heitman was Friedrich Heitman, a German military historian and writer who lived from 1835 to 1900. He is best known for his comprehensive work, "Die Preussischen Regimenter unter Friedrich dem Grossen" (The Prussian Regiments under Frederick the Great), which provided detailed accounts of the Prussian army during the reign of Frederick the Great.
In the 19th century, the name Heitman can be found in various records from the German states, such as birth, marriage, and death registers. One notable example is the birth record of Wilhelm Heitman, born in 1845 in the town of Hannover, who later became a prominent lawyer and politician in the region.
As German immigrants began to settle in other parts of the world, the surname Heitman was carried with them. In the United States, for instance, the name can be found among German-American communities, particularly in states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Missouri, where many German immigrants settled in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the surname Heitman is not among the most common surnames globally, it has left its mark in various historical records and has been borne by notable individuals throughout the centuries. Its origins can be traced back to the German word "heit," reflecting the connection between names and the physical landscapes that surrounded their earliest bearers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heitman
Among Census respondents with the surname Heitman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Heitman 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 Heitman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 2,728
- Two or more races3.1% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 20
- Black or African American0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Heitman
Heitman 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
#9,291
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,503
+293 bearers (+9.1%)
Per 100,000 1.19
Rank movement Up 32 places
2020
#10,410
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,946
-557 bearers (-15.9%)
Per 100,000 0.99
Rank movement Down 1,119 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,323 | 3,210 | 1.19 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,291 | 3,503 | 1.19 | +293 bearers (+9.1%) | Up 32 places |
| 2020 | #10,410 | 2,946 | 0.99 | -557 bearers (-15.9%) | Down 1,119 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 Heitman 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 | #9,291 | #10,410 | -12.0% |
| Count | 3,503 | 2,946 | -15.9% |
| Per 100K | 1.19 | 0.99 | -17.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Heitman bearers went from 3,503 to 2,946 (-15.9% change). The surname moved down 1,119 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,291 to #10,410.
FAQ
Heitman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Heitman?
Name Census estimates that about 3,378 living Americans carry the surname Heitman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 101,467 residents.
How common is Heitman?
Heitman ranks #10,410 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.99 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 2,946 people with the surname Heitman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,378), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.99 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.99 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 Heitman.
Has Heitman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Heitman went from 3,503 recorded bearers to 2,946. That is a decrease of 557 (-15.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,291 to #10,410.
What does the Census say about the background of Heitman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Heitman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Heitman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (2,728 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Heitman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Two or More Races (3.1%), Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Heitman (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 Heitman mean?
An occupational surname of German origin, referring to a person who guards or watches over something. 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 Heitman (0.99 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 Heitman?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.