2000
#9,261
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,238
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.20
Rare Last name
Hoelscher
A German occupational surname referring to a wood carver or carpenter.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,821 Americans carry the last name Hoelscher. That puts it at #9,365 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.11 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 89,703 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hoelscher 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
3.8K
1 in 89,703
Census rank
#9,365
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,332 bearers of the surname Hoelscher in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.11 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9365th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoelscher, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hoelscher
The surname Hoelscher originates from Germany, with its earliest known presence dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Middle Low German word "holt," which means "wood" or "forest," combined with the suffix "-scher," indicating someone who lived near or worked in a wooded area.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Hoelscher can be found in a land registry from the town of Emmerich, located in the Lower Rhine region of Germany, dated 1572. This document references a Johann Hoelscher, who owned a parcel of land near the town's outskirts.
During the 17th century, the name appears in various church records and official documents across several German states, suggesting its widespread use and potential variations in spelling, such as Hölscher, Holscher, and Hoelsher.
In the 18th century, a notable figure bearing the name Hoelscher was Johann Christoph Hoelscher, a renowned clockmaker from the city of Göttingen, who lived from 1711 to 1789. His intricate timepieces were highly sought after by the nobility and wealthy merchants of the time.
Another prominent individual with the surname Hoelscher was Friedrich Wilhelm Hoelscher, a German philosopher and professor who taught at the University of Halle in the early 19th century. He was born in 1784 and died in 1853, leaving behind several published works on metaphysics and ethics.
During the 19th century, the Hoelscher name also appeared in historical records related to the German migration to the United States. One such example is Christian Hoelscher, who arrived in Texas in 1846 and became a successful landowner and cattle rancher in the Hill Country region.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several notable Hoelschers emerged in the fields of literature and art. Carl Hoelscher, born in 1858 in Bavaria, was a celebrated landscape painter whose works captured the beauty of the German countryside.
Finally, a more recent figure with the Hoelscher surname is Werner Hoelscher, a German-American author and historian born in 1916. He wrote extensively about the experiences of German immigrants in the United States, publishing several books on the subject before his death in 2004.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hoelscher
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoelscher, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Hoelscher 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 Hoelscher surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.8% · 3,024
- Two or more races3.3% · 109
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 88
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 35
- Black or African American0.4% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hoelscher
Hoelscher 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
#9,594
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,387
+149 bearers (+4.6%)
Per 100,000 1.15
Rank movement Down 333 places
2020
#9,365
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,332
-55 bearers (-1.6%)
Per 100,000 1.11
Rank movement Up 229 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,261 | 3,238 | 1.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,594 | 3,387 | 1.15 | +149 bearers (+4.6%) | Down 333 places |
| 2020 | #9,365 | 3,332 | 1.11 | -55 bearers (-1.6%) | Up 229 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 Hoelscher 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 | #9,594 | #9,365 | 2.4% |
| Count | 3,387 | 3,332 | -1.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.15 | 1.11 | -3.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hoelscher bearers went from 3,387 to 3,332 (-1.6% change). The surname moved up 229 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,594 to #9,365.
FAQ
Hoelscher surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hoelscher?
Name Census estimates that about 3,821 living Americans carry the surname Hoelscher. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 89,703 residents.
How common is Hoelscher?
Hoelscher ranks #9,365 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.11 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 3,332 people with the surname Hoelscher. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,821), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.11 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.11 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 Hoelscher.
Has Hoelscher become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hoelscher went from 3,387 recorded bearers to 3,332. That is a decrease of 55 (-1.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #9,594 to #9,365.
What does the Census say about the background of Hoelscher?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hoelscher, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Hoelscher in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.8% (3,024 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hoelscher appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.8%), Two or More Races (3.3%), Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Hoelscher (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 Hoelscher mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a wood carver or carpenter. 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 Hoelscher (1.11 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 Hoelscher?
See how many people have the surname Hoelscher on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.