2000
#6,227
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,058
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.87
Rare Last name
Hock
Derived from a nickname for a person with a crooked leg or a limp.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,019 Americans carry the last name Hock. That puts it at #7,338 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.46 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 68,291 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hock 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 Hock with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
5.0K
1 in 68,291
Census rank
#7,338
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,377 bearers of the surname Hock in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.46 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7338th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hock, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hock
The surname HOCK is of German origin, dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the Old German word "hocke," which referred to a small hill or mound, suggesting that the name was initially given to someone who lived near or on a small hill.
The earliest recorded instances of the HOCK surname can be found in various German historical records, including church registers and tax records from the 16th and 17th centuries. One notable example is the record of a Johann HOCK, born in 1587 in the town of Worms, in the present-day state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
In the 17th century, the name appeared in the records of the German state of Bavaria, with a certain Georg HOCK being mentioned in a land deed from 1642 in the town of Ingolstadt.
As the name spread throughout Germany and other parts of Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Hocke, Hocken, and Hocken. These variations were often influenced by regional dialects and scribal errors in record-keeping.
One of the earliest known bearers of the HOCK surname in the English-speaking world was Johann Wilhelm HOCK, a German-born merchant who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the mid-18th century. He played a role in the American Revolutionary War, supplying provisions to the Continental Army.
Another notable figure with the HOCK surname was Theodor HOCK (1834-1904), a German-born physician and botanist who made significant contributions to the study of plant pathology and established the first phytopathological research institute in Germany.
Other historical figures bearing the HOCK surname include:
1. Heinrich HOCK (1816-1895), a German architect known for his design of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
2. Friedrich HOCK (1859-1936), a German composer and music educator who worked extensively in the United States.
3. Gerhard HOCK (1892-1978), a German-American physicist and inventor, known for his contributions to radar technology during World War II.
4. Joachim HOCK (1920-2004), a German naval officer and submarine commander during World War II, who later became an author and historian.
5. Hans HOCK (1921-2005), a German-American linguist and scholar of Sanskrit and Indo-European languages, who taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
These examples illustrate the long and diverse history of the HOCK surname, which has been borne by individuals from various walks of life across different parts of the world.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hock
Among Census respondents with the surname Hock, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Hock 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 Hock surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 4,069
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 131
- Two or more races2.5% · 109
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 31
- Black or African American0.6% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 12
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hock
Hock 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
#7,061
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,739
-319 bearers (-6.3%)
Per 100,000 1.61
Rank movement Down 834 places
2020
#7,338
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,377
-362 bearers (-7.6%)
Per 100,000 1.46
Rank movement Down 277 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,227 | 5,058 | 1.87 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,061 | 4,739 | 1.61 | -319 bearers (-6.3%) | Down 834 places |
| 2020 | #7,338 | 4,377 | 1.46 | -362 bearers (-7.6%) | Down 277 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 Hock 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 | #7,061 | #7,338 | -3.9% |
| Count | 4,739 | 4,377 | -7.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.61 | 1.46 | -9.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hock bearers went from 4,739 to 4,377 (-7.6% change). The surname moved down 277 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,061 to #7,338.
FAQ
Hock surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hock?
Name Census estimates that about 5,019 living Americans carry the surname Hock. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 68,291 residents.
How common is Hock?
Hock ranks #7,338 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.46 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 4,377 people with the surname Hock. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,019), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.46 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.46 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 Hock.
Has Hock become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hock went from 4,739 recorded bearers to 4,377. That is a decrease of 362 (-7.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,061 to #7,338.
What does the Census say about the background of Hock?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hock, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Hock in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (4,069 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hock appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Hispanic (3.0%), Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Hock (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 Hock mean?
Derived from a nickname for a person with a crooked leg or a limp. 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 Hock (1.46 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 Hock?
Want to know how many people have the last name Hock? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.