2000
#12,458
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,285
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.85
Rare Last name
Hiebert
A German occupational surname referring to a goatherd or someone who tended goats.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,781 Americans carry the last name Hiebert. That puts it at #12,253 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.81 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 123,249 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hiebert 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
2.8K
1 in 123,249
Census rank
#12,253
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,425 bearers of the surname Hiebert in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.81 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12253rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hiebert, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.3%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hiebert
The surname Hiebert has its origins in the Low German language spoken in northern Germany and the Netherlands. It is derived from the Germanic personal name Hugibert, which is composed of the elements "hug" meaning thought or mind, and "berht" meaning bright or famous. The earliest known spelling variants of the name include Hugibert, Hugebert, and Hubert.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Hiebert surname can be found in the town of Emden, East Frisia (now part of Lower Saxony, Germany), where a certain Johann Hiebert was documented in the 16th century. The name later spread to other areas of northern Germany, including the regions of Holstein and Schleswig.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, many Hieberts were part of the Mennonite religious movement, which originated in the Netherlands and northern Germany. As a result, the name became particularly prevalent among Mennonite communities in these regions, and later among Mennonite settlers in other parts of Europe and North America.
Notable individuals with the surname Hiebert include Peter Hiebert (1581-1652), a Dutch Mennonite leader and minister from Emden; Gerhard Hiebert (1632-1700), a Prussian Mennonite preacher and author; and Johann Hiebert (1765-1825), a German Mennonite farmer and landowner from the village of Petershagen, West Prussia.
In the 19th century, many Hieberts emigrated from Prussia and other parts of Germany to Russia, where they established Mennonite colonies in regions such as Ukraine and the Volga region. One of the most prominent figures from this period was David Hiebert (1847-1919), a Mennonite pioneer and leader who helped establish the Mennonite Brethren Church in Russia.
The Hiebert surname also became well-established in North America, particularly among Mennonite communities in Canada and the United States. One of the earliest recorded Hieberts in North America was Jacob Hiebert (1771-1848), a Prussian Mennonite who settled in Ontario, Canada in the early 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hiebert
Among Census respondents with the surname Hiebert, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.3%) and Two or More Races (3.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Hiebert 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 Hiebert surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.4% · 2,167
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 129
- Two or more races3.6% · 88
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 14
- Black or African American0.5% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hiebert
Hiebert 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
#12,108
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,574
+289 bearers (+12.6%)
Per 100,000 0.87
Rank movement Up 350 places
2020
#12,253
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,425
-149 bearers (-5.8%)
Per 100,000 0.81
Rank movement Down 145 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,458 | 2,285 | 0.85 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,108 | 2,574 | 0.87 | +289 bearers (+12.6%) | Up 350 places |
| 2020 | #12,253 | 2,425 | 0.81 | -149 bearers (-5.8%) | Down 145 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 Hiebert 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 | #12,108 | #12,253 | -1.2% |
| Count | 2,574 | 2,425 | -5.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.87 | 0.81 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hiebert bearers went from 2,574 to 2,425 (-5.8% change). The surname moved down 145 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,108 to #12,253.
FAQ
Hiebert surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hiebert?
Name Census estimates that about 2,781 living Americans carry the surname Hiebert. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 123,249 residents.
How common is Hiebert?
Hiebert ranks #12,253 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.81 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 2,425 people with the surname Hiebert. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,781), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.81 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.81 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 Hiebert.
Has Hiebert become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hiebert went from 2,574 recorded bearers to 2,425. That is a decrease of 149 (-5.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,108 to #12,253.
What does the Census say about the background of Hiebert?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hiebert, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.3%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Hiebert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (2,167 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hiebert appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.4%), Hispanic (5.3%), Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Hiebert (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 Hiebert mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a goatherd or someone who tended goats. 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 Hiebert (0.81 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 are called Hiebert?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Hiebert, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.