2000
#9,625
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,100
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.15
Rare Last name
Hering
A German occupational surname referring to someone who caught or sold herring fish.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,048 Americans carry the last name Hering. That puts it at #11,346 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.89 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 112,452 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hering 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
3.0K
1 in 112,452
Census rank
#11,346
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,658 bearers of the surname Hering in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.89 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11346th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hering, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hering
The surname Hering originates from Germany and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is a locational name, derived from the German word 'hering', meaning 'herring', a type of fish. This suggests that the name likely originated from a place where herring fishing or trade was prominent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hering can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the 12th century, which mentions a person named Hermannus Hering residing in the town of Quedlinburg, Saxony.
In the 13th century, there are records of the Hering family residing in the city of Lübeck, a major trading center in northern Germany. This further supports the association of the name with the herring trade or fishing industry.
The Hering name also appears in the Bürgeraufnahmen, the records of new citizens in the city of Frankfurt am Main, dating back to the 14th century. This suggests that the name had spread to other parts of Germany by that time.
One notable figure with the surname Hering was Johann Hering (1607-1662), a German lawyer and politician who served as the mayor of Leipzig from 1648 to 1662.
Another prominent individual was Ewald Hering (1834-1918), a German physiologist who made significant contributions to the study of color vision and visual perception. He is known for formulating the opponent process theory of color vision.
In the 19th century, the Hering family played a role in the textile industry in the Saxony region of Germany. Johann Gottfried Hering (1767-1847) established a successful textile manufacturing company in the town of Zittau.
The name Hering can also be found in various place names across Germany, such as Heringsdorf, a seaside resort town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Heringsweiler, a village in Baden-Württemberg.
Over time, the surname Hering has spread to other parts of Europe and beyond, carried by emigrants and travelers. Some notable individuals with this surname include Constance Hering (1799-1868), an English writer and traveler, and Georges Hering (1805-1879), a French mathematician and astronomer.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hering
Among Census respondents with the surname Hering, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Hering 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 Hering surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 2,447
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 102
- Two or more races1.8% · 47
- Black or African American1.2% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hering
Hering 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
#9,701
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,344
+244 bearers (+7.9%)
Per 100,000 1.13
Rank movement Down 76 places
2020
#11,346
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,658
-686 bearers (-20.5%)
Per 100,000 0.89
Rank movement Down 1,645 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,625 | 3,100 | 1.15 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,701 | 3,344 | 1.13 | +244 bearers (+7.9%) | Down 76 places |
| 2020 | #11,346 | 2,658 | 0.89 | -686 bearers (-20.5%) | Down 1,645 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 Hering 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 | #9,701 | #11,346 | -17.0% |
| Count | 3,344 | 2,658 | -20.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.13 | 0.89 | -21.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hering bearers went from 3,344 to 2,658 (-20.5% change). The surname moved down 1,645 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,701 to #11,346.
FAQ
Hering surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hering?
Name Census estimates that about 3,048 living Americans carry the surname Hering. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 112,452 residents.
How common is Hering?
Hering ranks #11,346 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.89 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 2,658 people with the surname Hering. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,048), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.89 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.89 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 Hering.
Has Hering become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hering went from 3,344 recorded bearers to 2,658. That is a decrease of 686 (-20.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,701 to #11,346.
What does the Census say about the background of Hering?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hering, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Hering in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (2,447 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hering appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Hispanic (3.8%), Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Hering (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 Hering mean?
A German occupational surname referring to someone who caught or sold herring fish. 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 Hering (0.89 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 common is the surname Hering?
For a quick modern take, check how many people are called Hering on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.