2000
#10,434
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,829
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.05
Rare Last name
Hornback
An English occupational surname for someone who played the horn or lived near a horn-shaped geographical feature.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,147 Americans carry the last name Hornback. That puts it at #11,060 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.92 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 108,915 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hornback 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
3.1K
1 in 108,915
Census rank
#11,060
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,744 bearers of the surname Hornback in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.92 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11060th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hornback, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (2.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hornback
The surname Hornback originates from Germany, where it first appeared in the 16th century. The name is derived from the German words "Horn" meaning "horn" and "Bach" meaning "brook," suggesting the name may have originated from someone who lived near a winding stream or brook shaped like a horn.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Hornback name can be found in the Kirchenbücher (church records) of the village of Oberschefflenz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where a Hans Hornbach was listed as a resident in 1537. This early spelling variation, Hornbach, further reinforces the connection to the geographic features that likely inspired the surname.
The Hornback name is also found in the records of the nearby town of Mosbach, where a Michael Hornback was born in 1612. This suggests that the name had spread to other areas of the region by the early 17th century.
As the surname spread throughout Germany and into neighboring countries, variations in spelling emerged, such as Hornbacher, Hornbeck, and Hornbeck. One notable individual with this variant spelling was Johann Philipp Hornbeck (1626-1695), a German theologian and professor at the University of Helmstedt.
In the 18th century, the Hornback surname began to appear in records of German immigrants to North America. Johann Jacob Hornbeck, born in 1715 in Alsace, France (then part of Germany), was one of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the American colonies.
Other notable individuals with the Hornback surname include:
1. Johann Georg Hornbach (1737-1809), a German composer and organist.
2. Wilhelm Hornbach (1834-1896), a German politician and member of the Reichstag.
3. Johann Peter Hornback (1827-1897), a German-American farmer and soldier who fought in the American Civil War.
4. Friedrich Hornbach (1868-1936), a German architect known for his work in the Art Nouveau style.
5. Hans Hornbacher (1896-1979), a German artist and painter associated with the New Objectivity movement.
While the Hornback surname is not among the most common surnames globally, it maintains a strong connection to its German origins and the geographic features that inspired its creation centuries ago.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hornback
Among Census respondents with the surname Hornback, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (2.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Hornback 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 Hornback surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 2,490
- Two or more races3.6% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 66
- Black or African American1.5% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 20
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hornback
Hornback 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
#10,998
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,892
+63 bearers (+2.2%)
Per 100,000 0.98
Rank movement Down 564 places
2020
#11,060
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,744
-148 bearers (-5.1%)
Per 100,000 0.92
Rank movement Down 62 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,434 | 2,829 | 1.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,998 | 2,892 | 0.98 | +63 bearers (+2.2%) | Down 564 places |
| 2020 | #11,060 | 2,744 | 0.92 | -148 bearers (-5.1%) | Down 62 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 Hornback 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 | #10,998 | #11,060 | -0.6% |
| Count | 2,892 | 2,744 | -5.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.98 | 0.92 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hornback bearers went from 2,892 to 2,744 (-5.1% change). The surname moved down 62 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,998 to #11,060.
FAQ
Hornback surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hornback?
Name Census estimates that about 3,147 living Americans carry the surname Hornback. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 108,915 residents.
How common is Hornback?
Hornback ranks #11,060 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.92 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 2,744 people with the surname Hornback. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,147), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.92 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.92 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 Hornback.
Has Hornback become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hornback went from 2,892 recorded bearers to 2,744. That is a decrease of 148 (-5.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,998 to #11,060.
What does the Census say about the background of Hornback?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hornback, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Hornback in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (2,490 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hornback appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Two or More Races (3.6%), Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Hornback (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 Hornback mean?
An English occupational surname for someone who played the horn or lived near a horn-shaped geographical feature. 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 Hornback (0.92 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 Americans have the surname Hornback?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.