2000
#8,774
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,444
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.28
Rare Last name
Horwitz
Jewish surname derived from the German place name Horowitz, referring to a person from that town.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,393 Americans carry the last name Horwitz. That puts it at #10,349 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.99 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 101,018 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Horwitz 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
3.4K
1 in 101,018
Census rank
#10,349
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,959 bearers of the surname Horwitz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.99 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10349th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Horwitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Horwitz
The surname Horwitz originates from Eastern Europe, specifically from the region of Poland and Belarus. It is believed to have derived from the Old Belarusian word "horod," meaning "town" or "city." The name likely referred to someone who hailed from a particular town or settlement.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Horwitz can be traced back to the 16th century in Polish and Belarusian records, although variations in spelling were common, such as Horowicz, Horowitz, and Gorodetz. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Yitzhak Horwitz, a prominent Jewish scholar and rabbi who lived in Cracow, Poland, in the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, the surname Horwitz appeared in various historical documents, including tax records and birth registers in the regions of Grodno and Minsk, which were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the time. Notable individuals from this era include Shlomo Horwitz, a renowned kabbalist and author who lived in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in the mid-17th century.
As the Jewish population in Eastern Europe faced persecution and displacement, many individuals bearing the surname Horwitz emigrated to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas in the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the United States was that of Joseph Horwitz, a merchant from Prussia who settled in Philadelphia in the late 18th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Horwitz, including:
1. Maxim Litvinov (born Meir Henoch Mosesovich Wallach-Finkelstein, later known as Maxim Maximovich Litvinov, 1876-1951), a Soviet revolutionary and diplomat who served as the Soviet Foreign Minister from 1930 to 1939.
2. Vladimir Horwitz (1891-1969), a Russian-American film director and screenwriter who worked in the early days of Hollywood and is best known for directing the 1925 silent film "The Unholy Three."
3. Sari Nusseibeh (born 1949), a Palestinian philosopher and professor who served as the President of Al-Quds University in Jerusalem and played a prominent role in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.
4. Zina Bethune (born Zina Horwitz, 1945-2012), an American dancer, choreographer, and artistic director who founded the Bethune Theatredanse company and was known for her innovative and avant-garde dance productions.
5. Julius Horwitz (1879-1945), an American businessman and politician who served as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1933 to 1935.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Horwitz
Among Census respondents with the surname Horwitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Horwitz 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 Horwitz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 2,704
- Two or more races3.4% · 102
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 39
- Black or African American0.4% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Horwitz
Horwitz 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
#9,940
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,246
-198 bearers (-5.7%)
Per 100,000 1.10
Rank movement Down 1,166 places
2020
#10,349
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,959
-287 bearers (-8.8%)
Per 100,000 0.99
Rank movement Down 409 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,774 | 3,444 | 1.28 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,940 | 3,246 | 1.10 | -198 bearers (-5.7%) | Down 1,166 places |
| 2020 | #10,349 | 2,959 | 0.99 | -287 bearers (-8.8%) | Down 409 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 Horwitz 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 | #9,940 | #10,349 | -4.1% |
| Count | 3,246 | 2,959 | -8.8% |
| Per 100K | 1.10 | 0.99 | -10.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Horwitz bearers went from 3,246 to 2,959 (-8.8% change). The surname moved down 409 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,940 to #10,349.
FAQ
Horwitz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Horwitz?
Name Census estimates that about 3,393 living Americans carry the surname Horwitz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 101,018 residents.
How common is Horwitz?
Horwitz ranks #10,349 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.99 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 2,959 people with the surname Horwitz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,393), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.99 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.99 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 Horwitz.
Has Horwitz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Horwitz went from 3,246 recorded bearers to 2,959. That is a decrease of 287 (-8.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #9,940 to #10,349.
What does the Census say about the background of Horwitz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Horwitz, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Horwitz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (2,704 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Horwitz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.4%), Two or More Races (3.4%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Horwitz (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 Horwitz mean?
Jewish surname derived from the German place name Horowitz, referring to a person from that town. 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 Horwitz (0.99 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 Horwitz?
Find out how many people have the last name Horwitz on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.