2000
#5,387
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,951
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.21
Rare Last name
Hershey
Derived from a place name meaning "deer wood" or "stag wood" in Old English.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,804 Americans carry the last name Hershey. That puts it at #5,637 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.98 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 50,375 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hershey 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
6.8K
1 in 50,375
Census rank
#5,637
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,933 bearers of the surname Hershey in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.98 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5637th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hershey, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hershey
The surname Hershey is of German origin, derived from the German town of Hersfeld, located in the state of Hesse. The name originated in the early 13th century and was initially spelled as Herschfeld or Herschfelder.
Records from the 14th century indicate that families with the surname Hershey were living in various parts of central Germany, particularly in the regions of Hesse, Thuringia, and Saxony. The earliest known record of the name dates back to 1328, when a certain Johannes Herschfelder was mentioned in a document from the town of Eisenach.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, several Hershey families migrated to the United States, primarily settling in Pennsylvania and other parts of the mid-Atlantic region. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in America was in 1727, when Christian Hershey, born in 1701 in Switzerland, arrived in Philadelphia.
The name Hershey gained particular prominence in the late 19th century with the success of Milton S. Hershey (1857-1945), the founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company. Hershey was born in Derry Township, Pennsylvania, and established his chocolate business in the town that now bears his name, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Other notable individuals with the surname Hershey include:
1. Andrew Hershey (1801-1868), an American businessman and founder of the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
2. Katharine Hershey (1915-1997), an American philanthropist and heiress to the Hershey Chocolate Company fortune.
3. Lew Hershey (1909-1986), an American baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox.
4. John D. Hershey (1856-1929), an American politician who served as the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.
5. Jacob Hershey (1776-1849), an American farmer and landowner in Pennsylvania, known for his involvement in the Underground Railroad.
While the surname Hershey originated in Germany, it has become closely associated with the chocolate industry and the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, due to the success and legacy of Milton S. Hershey and his family.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hershey
Among Census respondents with the surname Hershey, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Hershey 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 Hershey surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.8% · 5,504
- Two or more races2.9% · 171
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 146
- Black or African American1.0% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 23
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hershey
Hershey 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
#5,623
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,182
+231 bearers (+3.9%)
Per 100,000 2.10
Rank movement Down 236 places
2020
#5,637
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,933
-249 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 1.98
Rank movement Down 14 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,387 | 5,951 | 2.21 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,623 | 6,182 | 2.10 | +231 bearers (+3.9%) | Down 236 places |
| 2020 | #5,637 | 5,933 | 1.98 | -249 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 14 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 Hershey 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 | #5,623 | #5,637 | -0.2% |
| Count | 6,182 | 5,933 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 2.10 | 1.98 | -5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hershey bearers went from 6,182 to 5,933 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 14 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,623 to #5,637.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Hershey
FAQ
Hershey surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hershey?
Name Census estimates that about 6,804 living Americans carry the surname Hershey. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 50,375 residents.
How common is Hershey?
Hershey ranks #5,637 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.98 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,933 people with the surname Hershey. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,804), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.98 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.98 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Hershey.
Has Hershey become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hershey went from 6,182 recorded bearers to 5,933. That is a decrease of 249 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,623 to #5,637.
What does the Census say about the background of Hershey?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hershey, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) 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 Hershey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (5,504 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hershey appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.8%), Two or More Races (2.9%), 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 Hershey (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 Hershey mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "deer wood" or "stag wood" in Old English. 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 Hershey (1.98 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 surname Hershey?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.