2000
#3,559
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,160
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.40
Uncommon Last name
Holtz
Derived from the German word for wood, referring to someone who lived near or worked in a wood.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 10,268 Americans carry the last name Holtz. That puts it at #3,860 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.00 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 33,381 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Holtz 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
10K
1 in 33,381
Census rank
#3,860
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
9.0K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,954 bearers of the surname Holtz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.00 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3860th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Holtz, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Holtz
The surname Holtz is of German origin, derived from the medieval German word "holz," meaning "wood" or "forest." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a wooded area or worked as a forester or woodsman.
Holtz is an ancient German surname that can be traced back to the 13th century. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the German town of Lübeck, where a man named Hartwig Holtz was mentioned in a document from 1290.
During the Middle Ages, the name Holtz appeared in various historical records and manuscripts across Germany. For example, in the 14th century, a man named Johannes Holtz was listed as a citizen of the city of Cologne.
In the 16th century, the surname Holtz was found in several regions of Germany, including the areas around the cities of Hamburg, Hannover, and Berlin. It was also associated with the German nobility, as evidenced by the presence of a noble family named Holtz in the principality of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Holtz was Hans Holtz, a German painter and engraver who lived in the 15th century. Another notable figure was Johann Holtz, a German mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1640 to 1711 and made significant contributions to the study of optics and electricity.
In the 18th century, the name Holtz was particularly prominent in the city of Dresden, where a family of artists and artisans bearing the surname were active. This included Johann Georg Holtz, a renowned silversmith who was born in 1706 and created exquisite pieces for the royal court of Saxony.
Another famous bearer of the Holtz surname was Johann Wilhelm Holtz, a German physicist who lived from 1836 to 1913. He is best known for his invention of the Holtz electrostatic machine, a device used to generate high voltages through the principles of electrostatic induction.
In the 19th century, the Holtz name was also found in various parts of Europe, as Germans emigrated to other countries. For instance, a man named Friedrich Holtz was born in Germany in 1836 but later settled in England, where he became a renowned architect and designed several notable buildings.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Holtz
Among Census respondents with the surname Holtz, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Holtz 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 Holtz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.2% · 8,075
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 322
- Two or more races3.0% · 270
- Black or African American2.3% · 206
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 63
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 18
Timeline
Historical Census data for Holtz
Holtz 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
#3,730
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,502
+342 bearers (+3.7%)
Per 100,000 3.22
Rank movement Down 171 places
2020
#3,860
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,954
-548 bearers (-5.8%)
Per 100,000 3.00
Rank movement Down 130 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,559 | 9,160 | 3.40 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,730 | 9,502 | 3.22 | +342 bearers (+3.7%) | Down 171 places |
| 2020 | #3,860 | 8,954 | 3.00 | -548 bearers (-5.8%) | Down 130 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 Holtz 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 | #3,730 | #3,860 | -3.5% |
| Count | 9,502 | 8,954 | -5.8% |
| Per 100K | 3.22 | 3.00 | -7.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Holtz bearers went from 9,502 to 8,954 (-5.8% change). The surname moved down 130 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,730 to #3,860.
FAQ
Holtz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Holtz?
Name Census estimates that about 10,268 living Americans carry the surname Holtz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 33,381 residents.
How common is Holtz?
Holtz ranks #3,860 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.00 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 8,954 people with the surname Holtz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (10,268), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.00 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 Holtz.
Has Holtz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Holtz went from 9,502 recorded bearers to 8,954. That is a decrease of 548 (-5.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,730 to #3,860.
What does the Census say about the background of Holtz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Holtz, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Holtz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.2% (8,075 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Holtz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.2%), Hispanic (3.6%), Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Holtz (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 Holtz mean?
Derived from the German word for wood, referring to someone who lived near or worked in a wood. 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 Holtz (3.00 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 Holtz?
If you just want to know how common the surname Holtz is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.