2010
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Heske
Of uncertain German origin, possibly from a variant of the word "hecke" meaning "hedge".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Heske. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Heske 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Heske in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Heske, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Heske
The surname "HESKE" is of German origin, derived from the Old German word "heisk" meaning "hoarse" or "rough-voiced." The name likely originated in the late Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century.
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the region of Saxony-Anhalt in central Germany. It is believed that the name was initially used as a descriptive nickname for someone with a raspy or gruff voice.
In the 15th century, the name appears in several municipal records and chronicles from the towns of Halberstadt and Quedlinburg, both located in what is now the state of Saxony-Anhalt. One notable mention is in the Quedlinburg Abbey Chronicles from the year 1472, which references a "Hans Heske" as a local tradesman.
By the 16th century, the name had spread to other parts of Germany, including the regions of Bavaria and Württemberg. In 1534, the records of the city of Nuremberg list a "Jörg Heske" as a member of the local guild of tanners.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Matthias Heske, a Protestant theologian and author who lived from 1542 to 1612. He was born in the town of Zwickau, Saxony, and is best known for his work "Compendium Theologiae Lutheranae" (Compendium of Lutheran Theology), published in 1598.
Another notable figure was Johann Heske, a German philosopher and educator who lived from 1583 to 1647. He served as the headmaster of the St. Annen-Schule (St. Anne's School) in Augsburg, Bavaria, and authored several works on education and ethics.
In the 18th century, the name appears in records from the Principality of Hesse, where a "Johannes Heske" is listed as a landowner in the village of Niedermeiser in 1743.
The 19th century saw the name spread further across Germany and into neighboring countries like Austria and Switzerland. One prominent individual was Carl Friedrich Heske, a German mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1784 to 1853. He served as the director of the Königsberg Observatory and made important contributions to the study of celestial mechanics.
As the name continued to be passed down through generations, it eventually made its way to other parts of the world, carried by German immigrants and their descendants.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heske
Among Census respondents with the surname Heske, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Heske 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 Heske surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.0% · 70
- Hispanic or Latino27.2% · 28
- Two or more races3.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Heske
Heske appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-5 bearers (-4.6%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 2,650 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -5 bearers (-4.6%) | Down 2,650 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 Heske 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 | #151,532 | #154,182 | -1.7% |
| Count | 108 | 103 | -4.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Heske bearers went from 108 to 103 (-4.6% change). The surname moved down 2,650 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #154,182.
FAQ
Heske surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Heske?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Heske. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Heske?
Heske ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 103 people with the surname Heske. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Heske.
Has Heske become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Heske went from 108 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 5 (-4.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #151,532 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Heske?
Among Census respondents with the surname Heske, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Heske in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.0% (70 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Heske appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (68.0%), Hispanic (27.2%), Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Heske (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 Heske mean?
Of uncertain German origin, possibly from a variant of the word "hecke" meaning "hedge". 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 Heske (0.03 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 Heske?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.