2000
#7,497
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,097
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.52
Rare Last name
Hertz
A surname of German origin referring to someone who came from a place called Herz or Herze.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,602 Americans carry the last name Hertz. That puts it at #7,929 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.34 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 74,479 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hertz 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Hertz with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.6K
1 in 74,479
Census rank
#7,929
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,013 bearers of the surname Hertz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.34 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7929th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hertz, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hertz
The surname Hertz originated from Germany and can be traced back to the 16th century. It is derived from the German word 'Herz', which means 'heart' or 'deer'. The name was initially used as a descriptive term, referring to either someone with a kind and compassionate nature or someone who was a skilled hunter of deer.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Hertz can be found in the town records of Nuremberg, Bavaria, in 1548, where a certain Hans Hertz was listed as a resident. In the same region, the Hertz family was known to have lived in the village of Herzogenaurach, which may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of their surname.
During the Middle Ages, the Hertz surname appeared in various German chronicles and manuscripts, often associated with individuals involved in trades or professions related to hunting or game management. For instance, a man named Johann Hertz was documented as a master huntsman in the court records of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1612.
Prominent figures who bore the Hertz surname include Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894), a German physicist renowned for his groundbreaking work on electromagnetic radiation, which laid the foundation for the development of radio technology. Another notable bearer of this name was Gustav Hertz (1887-1975), a German physicist and Nobel laureate who made significant contributions to the study of atomic structure and the properties of free electrons.
Other historical figures with the surname Hertz include Friedrich Hertz (1615-1690), a German jurist and legal scholar; Johann Daniel Hertz (1696-1772), a German composer and organist; and Paul Hertz (1888-1961), a German-American film producer and co-founder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Studios.
The Hertz surname has also been associated with several place names in Germany, such as Herzogenaurach, a town in Bavaria, and Hertzberg, a village in Lower Saxony. These place names may have influenced the spelling variations of the surname, including Herz, Hertzog, and Hertzig, among others.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hertz
Among Census respondents with the surname Hertz, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Hertz 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 Hertz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.9% · 3,647
- Two or more races3.2% · 128
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 125
- Black or African American1.9% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hertz
Hertz 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
#7,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,257
+160 bearers (+3.9%)
Per 100,000 1.44
Rank movement Down 291 places
2020
#7,929
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,013
-244 bearers (-5.7%)
Per 100,000 1.34
Rank movement Down 141 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,497 | 4,097 | 1.52 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,788 | 4,257 | 1.44 | +160 bearers (+3.9%) | Down 291 places |
| 2020 | #7,929 | 4,013 | 1.34 | -244 bearers (-5.7%) | Down 141 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 Hertz 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 | #7,788 | #7,929 | -1.8% |
| Count | 4,257 | 4,013 | -5.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.44 | 1.34 | -6.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hertz bearers went from 4,257 to 4,013 (-5.7% change). The surname moved down 141 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,788 to #7,929.
FAQ
Hertz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hertz?
Name Census estimates that about 4,602 living Americans carry the surname Hertz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 74,479 residents.
How common is Hertz?
Hertz ranks #7,929 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.34 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 4,013 people with the surname Hertz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,602), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.34 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.34 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 Hertz.
Has Hertz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hertz went from 4,257 recorded bearers to 4,013. That is a decrease of 244 (-5.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,788 to #7,929.
What does the Census say about the background of Hertz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hertz, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Hertz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.9% (3,647 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hertz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.9%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (3.1%). 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 Hertz (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 Hertz mean?
A surname of German origin referring to someone who came from a place called Herz or Herze. 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 Hertz (1.34 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 Hertz?
You can see how many people have the last name Hertz on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.