2000
#134,037
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Horstkamp
A German surname derived from an area name that may refer to someone from a place called Horstkamp.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 155 Americans carry the last name Horstkamp. That puts it at #131,120 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.05 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,211,318 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Horstkamp 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
155
1 in 2,211,318
Census rank
#131,120
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
135
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 135 bearers of the surname Horstkamp in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.05 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 131120th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Horstkamp, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Horstkamp
The surname Horstkamp originated in Germany, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is a locational name derived from the place name Horstkamp, a small village located in the Münsterland region of North Rhine-Westphalia. The name is composed of two Old German words, "horst" meaning a wooded hill or a cluster of trees, and "kamp" meaning a field or a small cultivated area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Horstkamp can be found in the parish records of the town of Telgte, near Münster, in 1587. The entry mentions a certain Hermann Horstkamp, a farmer and landowner in the area. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, the Horstkamp family appears to have been prominent landowners and farmers in the Münsterland area. Records from the Prussian Land Registry in 1687 list several individuals with the surname Horstkamp as owning substantial tracts of land in the villages surrounding Münster.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, as the industrial revolution took hold in Germany, many Horstkamps migrated from the rural areas around Münster to the growing cities in search of employment. The name can be found in the records of cities like Dortmund, Essen, and Cologne during this period.
One notable bearer of the name was Johann Horstkamp (1776-1852), a successful merchant and industrialist from Münster. He was involved in the textile trade and owned several factories in the region. Another prominent Horstkamp was Friedrich Horstkamp (1835-1912), a renowned architect who designed several notable buildings in Münster, including the Westphalian Museum of Art and Cultural History.
Other notable individuals with the surname Horstkamp include Gerhard Horstkamp (1892-1971), a German politician who served as a member of the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic, and Heinz Horstkamp (1919-2005), a German World War II veteran and author who wrote several books about his experiences during the war.
Throughout its history, the surname Horstkamp has maintained its strong association with the Münsterland region of Germany, where it originated. While it has spread to other parts of the country and even abroad, its roots can be traced back to the small village of Horstkamp and the surrounding rural areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Horstkamp
Among Census respondents with the surname Horstkamp, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Horstkamp 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 Horstkamp surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 135
Timeline
Historical Census data for Horstkamp
Horstkamp 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
#128,249
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 133
+17 bearers (+14.7%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Up 5,788 places
2020
#131,120
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 135
+2 bearers (+1.5%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 2,871 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #134,037 | 116 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #128,249 | 133 | 0.05 | +17 bearers (+14.7%) | Up 5,788 places |
| 2020 | #131,120 | 135 | 0.05 | +2 bearers (+1.5%) | Down 2,871 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 Horstkamp 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 | #128,249 | #131,120 | -2.2% |
| Count | 133 | 135 | 1.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.05 | -9.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Horstkamp bearers went from 133 to 135 (+1.5% change). The surname moved down 2,871 positions in the national ranking, going from #128,249 to #131,120.
FAQ
Horstkamp surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Horstkamp?
Name Census estimates that about 155 living Americans carry the surname Horstkamp. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,211,318 residents.
How common is Horstkamp?
Horstkamp ranks #131,120 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.05 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 135 people with the surname Horstkamp. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (155), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.05 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.05 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Horstkamp.
Has Horstkamp become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Horstkamp went from 133 recorded bearers to 135. That is an increase of 2 (+1.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #128,249 to #131,120.
What does the Census say about the background of Horstkamp?
Among Census respondents with the surname Horstkamp, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%. 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 Horstkamp in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (135 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Horstkamp appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (100.0%). 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 Horstkamp (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 Horstkamp mean?
A German surname derived from an area name that may refer to someone from a place called Horstkamp. 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 Horstkamp (0.05 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 Horstkamp?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Horstkamp at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.