2010
#158,432
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Heuler
A German surname derived from the German word "heulen" meaning "to howl" or "to wail".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Heuler. 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 Heuler 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 Heuler 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 Heuler, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Heuler
The surname Heuler is believed to have originated from the German-speaking regions of Europe, likely in the late medieval or early modern period. It is thought to be derived from the German word "heulen," which means "to howl" or "to wail." This suggests that the name may have initially been used as a descriptive nickname for someone with a loud or distinctive voice.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Heuler can be found in various German and Swiss documents from the 16th and 17th centuries. One notable example is Johann Heuler, a Protestant theologian and writer who lived in the city of Wittenberg, Germany, from around 1530 to 1598. His works on religious topics were widely circulated during the Reformation era.
In the 18th century, the Heuler name appeared in several records from the Alsace region, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire but is now located in modern-day France. This suggests that the name may have spread from its German origins to other nearby regions.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Heuler surname was Hans Heuler, a blacksmith who lived in the town of Strasbourg, Alsace, in the late 1600s. Local records from that time mention him as a respected craftsman and member of the town's guild system.
As the Heuler family name spread across Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, including Heuller, Hoyler, and Hoyeler. These alternative spellings can be found in historical documents from various regions, reflecting local language differences and variations in record-keeping practices.
Another notable individual with the Heuler surname was Johann Christoph Heuler, a German composer and organist who lived from 1716 to 1783. He was renowned for his sacred choral works and served as the organist at several churches in the German city of Nuremberg.
In the 19th century, the Heuler name began to appear in records from other parts of Europe, including the Netherlands and Scandinavia, likely due to migration and the spread of German-speaking communities. One example is Pieter Heuler, a Dutch businessman and trader who lived in Amsterdam in the late 1800s.
While not as widely known, the Heuler surname has also been associated with a handful of notable individuals in more recent times, such as the German author and journalist Helmut Heuler, who wrote several books on political and social issues in the 20th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Heuler
Among Census respondents with the surname Heuler, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Heuler 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 Heuler surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.5% · 86
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 9
- Two or more races3.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 2
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Heuler
Heuler 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
+1 bearers (+1.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 4,250 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #158,432 | 102 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | +1 bearers (+1.0%) | Up 4,250 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 Heuler 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 | #158,432 | #154,182 | 2.7% |
| Count | 102 | 103 | 1.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.03 | 14.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Heuler bearers went from 102 to 103 (+1.0% change). The surname moved up 4,250 positions in the national ranking, going from #158,432 to #154,182.
FAQ
Heuler surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Heuler?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Heuler. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Heuler?
Heuler 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 Heuler. 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 Heuler.
Has Heuler become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Heuler went from 102 recorded bearers to 103. That is an increase of 1 (+1.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #158,432 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Heuler?
Among Census respondents with the surname Heuler, the largest self-reported group is White at 83.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) 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 Heuler in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.5% (86 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Heuler appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (83.5%), Hispanic (8.7%), 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 Heuler (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 Heuler mean?
A German surname derived from the German word "heulen" meaning "to howl" or "to wail". 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 Heuler (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 last name Heuler?
See how common the surname Heuler is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.