2000
#5,406
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,929
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.20
Rare Last name
Hesse
Derived from a German regional name for someone from the state of Hesse in central Germany.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,573 Americans carry the last name Hesse. That puts it at #5,814 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.92 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 52,146 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hesse 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 Hesse with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
6.6K
1 in 52,146
Census rank
#5,814
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,732 bearers of the surname Hesse in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.92 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5814th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hesse, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hesse
The surname HESSE has its origins in Germany, with records dating back to the medieval period. The name is derived from the region of Hesse, a former state in central Germany. It is believed to have been initially used as a locational name, referring to people who hailed from this area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name HESSE can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Anhaltinus, a collection of historical documents from the Anhalt region of Germany, dating back to the 12th century. In this text, a person named "Heinricus de Hesse" is mentioned, indicating the use of the surname in reference to someone from the Hesse region.
During the 13th century, the name HESSE appeared in various medieval manuscripts and records across Germany. For example, in the Mainzer Urkundenbuch (a collection of documents from Mainz), a "Conradus dictus de Hesse" is mentioned in a document from 1275.
In the 14th century, the name HESSE gained prominence with notable figures such as Konrad von Hesse, a German Dominican friar and theologian who lived from around 1330 to 1399. Another prominent individual bearing this surname was Johannes Hesse, a German painter and engraver who lived from approximately 1475 to 1549.
The 16th century saw the emergence of Hermann Hesse, a German poet and satirist who lived from 1557 to 1638. His works, which often criticized the religious and social norms of his time, earned him recognition as a significant figure in German literature.
In the 19th century, one of the most renowned individuals with the surname HESSE was Hermann Hesse, the Nobel Prize-winning German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. He was born in 1877 and died in 1962, and is best known for works such as "Siddhartha" and "The Glass Bead Game."
Other notable individuals with the surname HESSE include Kurt Hesse, a German composer and conductor who lived from 1904 to 1994, and Karl Hesse, a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of crystallography, living from 1877 to 1944.
While the name HESSE has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and has been adopted by people of various ethnic backgrounds.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hesse
Among Census respondents with the surname Hesse, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Hesse 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 Hesse surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 5,239
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 198
- Two or more races2.4% · 135
- Black or African American1.5% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 27
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hesse
Hesse 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
#5,697
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,084
+155 bearers (+2.6%)
Per 100,000 2.06
Rank movement Down 291 places
2020
#5,814
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,732
-352 bearers (-5.8%)
Per 100,000 1.92
Rank movement Down 117 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,406 | 5,929 | 2.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,697 | 6,084 | 2.06 | +155 bearers (+2.6%) | Down 291 places |
| 2020 | #5,814 | 5,732 | 1.92 | -352 bearers (-5.8%) | Down 117 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 Hesse 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 | #5,697 | #5,814 | -2.1% |
| Count | 6,084 | 5,732 | -5.8% |
| Per 100K | 2.06 | 1.92 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hesse bearers went from 6,084 to 5,732 (-5.8% change). The surname moved down 117 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,697 to #5,814.
FAQ
Hesse surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hesse?
Name Census estimates that about 6,573 living Americans carry the surname Hesse. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 52,146 residents.
How common is Hesse?
Hesse ranks #5,814 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.92 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 5,732 people with the surname Hesse. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,573), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.92 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.92 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 Hesse.
Has Hesse become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hesse went from 6,084 recorded bearers to 5,732. That is a decrease of 352 (-5.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,697 to #5,814.
What does the Census say about the background of Hesse?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hesse, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Hesse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (5,239 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hesse appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.4%), Hispanic (3.5%), Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Hesse (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 Hesse mean?
Derived from a German regional name for someone from the state of Hesse in central Germany. 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 Hesse (1.92 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 Hesse?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.