2000
#3,695
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,824
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.27
Uncommon Last name
Hofmann
A surname of German origin referring to someone who lived near or worked on a farm or courtyard.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 10,350 Americans carry the last name Hofmann. That puts it at #3,834 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.02 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 33,116 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hofmann 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 Hofmann with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
10K
1 in 33,116
Census rank
#3,834
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.0K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 9,026 bearers of the surname Hofmann in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.02 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3834th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hofmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hofmann
The surname Hofmann is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German words "hof" meaning "court" or "farm" and "mann" meaning "man." It likely originated in the medieval period as an occupational name for someone who worked on or managed a farm or estate.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hofmann can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, Germany, dating back to the 12th century. The name Hofmann is also mentioned in various other German records and manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries.
In some regions, the name Hofmann was derived from place names incorporating the word "hof," such as Hofheim or Hofstetten. These place names often referred to villages or settlements located near a farm or estate.
Notable individuals with the surname Hofmann throughout history include:
1. Caspar Hofmann (1572-1648), a German theologian and philosopher who contributed to the development of Protestant theology.
2. August Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818-1892), a German chemist known for his pioneering work in organic chemistry and the development of the Hofmann rearrangement reaction.
3. Josef Hofmann (1876-1957), a Polish-American pianist and composer widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.
4. Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), a German-American abstract expressionist painter and influential art teacher who played a pivotal role in the development of abstract expressionism in the United States.
5. Adolf Hofmann (1897-1967), a German military officer who served as a general in the Wehrmacht during World War II and was later convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg trials.
The name Hofmann has undergone various spelling variations over the centuries, including Hoffmann, Hofman, and Hofman, reflecting regional linguistic differences and changes in orthography.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hofmann
Among Census respondents with the surname Hofmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Hofmann 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 Hofmann surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 8,312
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 340
- Two or more races2.8% · 254
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 72
- Black or African American0.4% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hofmann
Hofmann 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
#3,857
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,192
+368 bearers (+4.2%)
Per 100,000 3.12
Rank movement Down 162 places
2020
#3,834
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,026
-166 bearers (-1.8%)
Per 100,000 3.02
Rank movement Up 23 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,695 | 8,824 | 3.27 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,857 | 9,192 | 3.12 | +368 bearers (+4.2%) | Down 162 places |
| 2020 | #3,834 | 9,026 | 3.02 | -166 bearers (-1.8%) | Up 23 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 Hofmann 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 | #3,857 | #3,834 | 0.6% |
| Count | 9,192 | 9,026 | -1.8% |
| Per 100K | 3.12 | 3.02 | -3.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hofmann bearers went from 9,192 to 9,026 (-1.8% change). The surname moved up 23 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,857 to #3,834.
FAQ
Hofmann surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hofmann?
Name Census estimates that about 10,350 living Americans carry the surname Hofmann. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 33,116 residents.
How common is Hofmann?
Hofmann ranks #3,834 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.02 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 9,026 people with the surname Hofmann. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (10,350), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.02 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.02 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Hofmann.
Has Hofmann become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hofmann went from 9,192 recorded bearers to 9,026. That is a decrease of 166 (-1.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #3,857 to #3,834.
What does the Census say about the background of Hofmann?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hofmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Hofmann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (8,312 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hofmann appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Hispanic (3.8%), Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Hofmann (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 Hofmann mean?
A surname of German origin referring to someone who lived near or worked on a farm or courtyard. 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 Hofmann (3.02 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 Hofmann?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the surname Hofmann on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.