2000
#11,362
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,546
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.94
Rare Last name
Hotaling
Derived from a place name meaning "burnt meadow" in Dutch, likely referring to a family's place of origin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,698 Americans carry the last name Hotaling. That puts it at #12,566 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.79 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 127,040 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hotaling 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
2.7K
1 in 127,040
Census rank
#12,566
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.4K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,353 bearers of the surname Hotaling in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.79 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 12566th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hotaling, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hotaling
The surname Hotaling is of Dutch origin, believed to have originated in the 17th century in the Netherlands. The name is thought to be derived from the Dutch words "hot" meaning "hot" and "aling" meaning "breath" or "vapor", possibly referring to someone who worked with hot ovens or furnaces.
In its earliest recorded instances, the name appeared as variants such as Hottelingh, Hotelinck, and Hottelink in Dutch records and documents from the 1600s. These early spellings suggest the name may have initially been an occupational surname given to individuals involved in professions like baking or metalworking.
The first known record of the Hotaling surname in the United States dates back to the late 17th century, when several individuals with the name immigrated from the Netherlands to the Dutch settlements in New Netherland (present-day New York). One of the earliest documented individuals with this surname was Johannes Hotaling, born around 1670, who settled in what is now Albany County, New York.
Another notable early bearer of the Hotaling name was Hendrick Hotaling, born in 1722 in Albany, New York. He served as a soldier during the French and Indian War and is recorded in muster rolls from that conflict.
In the 19th century, the Hotaling family established a successful distillery business in New York, with Joseph Hotaling (1807-1891) founding the J.A. Hotaling & Co. distillery in San Francisco in 1856. This company became one of the largest producers and distributors of whiskey in the western United States.
Other prominent individuals with the Hotaling surname include James Hotaling (1808-1876), a member of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, and William Hotaling (1810-1874), a pioneer settler and farmer in Michigan.
While the Hotaling name originated in the Netherlands, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly in areas with significant Dutch immigration and settlement, such as the United States and South Africa.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hotaling
Among Census respondents with the surname Hotaling, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Hotaling 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 Hotaling surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 2,195
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 73
- Two or more races2.5% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
- Black or African American0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hotaling
Hotaling 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
#12,296
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,528
-18 bearers (-0.7%)
Per 100,000 0.86
Rank movement Down 934 places
2020
#12,566
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,353
-175 bearers (-6.9%)
Per 100,000 0.79
Rank movement Down 270 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,362 | 2,546 | 0.94 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,296 | 2,528 | 0.86 | -18 bearers (-0.7%) | Down 934 places |
| 2020 | #12,566 | 2,353 | 0.79 | -175 bearers (-6.9%) | Down 270 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 Hotaling 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 | #12,296 | #12,566 | -2.2% |
| Count | 2,528 | 2,353 | -6.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.86 | 0.79 | -8.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hotaling bearers went from 2,528 to 2,353 (-6.9% change). The surname moved down 270 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,296 to #12,566.
FAQ
Hotaling surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hotaling?
Name Census estimates that about 2,698 living Americans carry the surname Hotaling. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 127,040 residents.
How common is Hotaling?
Hotaling ranks #12,566 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.79 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 2,353 people with the surname Hotaling. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,698), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.79 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.79 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 Hotaling.
Has Hotaling become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hotaling went from 2,528 recorded bearers to 2,353. That is a decrease of 175 (-6.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,296 to #12,566.
What does the Census say about the background of Hotaling?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hotaling, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Hotaling in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (2,195 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hotaling appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.3%), Hispanic (3.1%), Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Hotaling (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 Hotaling mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "burnt meadow" in Dutch, likely referring to a family's place of origin. 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 Hotaling (0.79 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 have the surname Hotaling?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.