2000
#120,330
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 133
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Hochbaum
A German surname meaning "tall tree" or "high tree."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 133 Americans carry the last name Hochbaum. That puts it at #145,028 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,577,100 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hochbaum 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
133
1 in 2,577,100
Census rank
#145,028
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
116
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 116 bearers of the surname Hochbaum in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145028th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hochbaum, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hochbaum
The surname Hochbaum is of German origin, originating in the late Middle Ages. It is a locational surname, derived from the words "hoch" meaning high and "baum" meaning tree. This suggests the name was initially given to someone who lived near a tall tree or in a heavily wooded area.
Hochbaum is believed to have emerged in the 13th or 14th century in the southern regions of modern-day Germany, particularly Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Early spellings of the name included Hochbaum, Hohbaum, and Hochpaume.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Hochbaum name appears in the Würzburg census records of 1397, where a Hans Hochbaum is listed as a resident of the city. In the 15th century, a Johann Hochbaum is mentioned in the town records of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a well-preserved medieval town in Bavaria.
During the 16th century, the Hochbaum name can be found in various church registers and legal documents across southern Germany. Notable individuals from this period include Matthias Hochbaum (1521-1594), a prominent lawyer and judge in Nuremberg, and Anna Hochbaum (1547-1619), a respected midwife in the town of Landau in der Pfalz.
As the Hochbaum family spread throughout Germany in the following centuries, the name also appeared in various forms, such as Hochbaumer and Hochbaumer. In the 18th century, Johann Jakob Hochbaum (1673-1758) was a renowned clockmaker in the Black Forest region, known for his intricate cuckoo clocks.
Another notable figure was Christoph Hochbaum (1789-1856), a German writer and poet from Saxony, whose works often celebrated the beauty of nature and the rural landscape. His collection of poems, "Lieder aus dem Walde" (Songs from the Forest), published in 1829, was widely acclaimed.
While Hochbaum is primarily a German surname, it has also been found in other European countries, likely due to migration and intermarriage. For example, in the late 19th century, a family by the name of Hochbaum settled in the Russian Empire, where the name was transliterated as Хохбаум (Khokhbaum).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hochbaum
Among Census respondents with the surname Hochbaum, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Hochbaum 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 Hochbaum surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.0% · 109
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 2
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hochbaum
Hochbaum 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
#126,018
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 136
+3 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 5,688 places
2020
#145,028
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
-20 bearers (-14.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 19,010 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #120,330 | 133 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #126,018 | 136 | 0.05 | +3 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 5,688 places |
| 2020 | #145,028 | 116 | 0.04 | -20 bearers (-14.7%) | Down 19,010 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 Hochbaum 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 | #126,018 | #145,028 | -15.1% |
| Count | 136 | 116 | -14.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -22.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hochbaum bearers went from 136 to 116 (-14.7% change). The surname moved down 19,010 positions in the national ranking, going from #126,018 to #145,028.
FAQ
Hochbaum surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hochbaum?
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the surname Hochbaum. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,577,100 residents.
How common is Hochbaum?
Hochbaum ranks #145,028 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 116 people with the surname Hochbaum. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (133), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Hochbaum.
Has Hochbaum become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hochbaum went from 136 recorded bearers to 116. That is a decrease of 20 (-14.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #126,018 to #145,028.
What does the Census say about the background of Hochbaum?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hochbaum, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%). 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 Hochbaum in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.0% (109 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hochbaum appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.0%), Hispanic (3.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%). 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 Hochbaum (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 Hochbaum mean?
A German surname meaning "tall tree" or "high tree." 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 Hochbaum (0.04 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 Hochbaum?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans have the surname Hochbaum on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.