2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Hunhoff
A habitational surname likely derived from a placename, possibly a farmstead or settlement.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Hunhoff. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hunhoff 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
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Hunhoff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hunhoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Black (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hunhoff
The surname Hunhoff originated in Germany during the late medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the German words "huhn" meaning "chicken" and "hof" meaning "courtyard" or "farm", suggesting that the name may have originally referred to someone who kept or raised chickens on a farmyard.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the town records of Cologne, where a certain Friedrich Hunhoff is mentioned as a landowner in the year 1472. The name also appears in various church registers and tax rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries in regions such as Bavaria and Saxony.
A notable bearer of the Hunhoff name was Johann Hunhoff (1540-1612), a German theologian and philosopher who served as a professor at the University of Wittenberg. He was known for his writings on metaphysics and his contributions to the development of Protestant thought during the Reformation era.
In the 18th century, the Hunhoff family gained prominence in the city of Hamburg, where several members were involved in maritime trade and commerce. One such individual was Heinrich Hunhoff (1725-1798), a successful merchant and ship owner who played a role in the city's economic and cultural life.
Another noteworthy figure was Anna Hunhoff (1802-1876), a German educator and advocate for women's rights. She was instrumental in establishing several schools for girls in her native region of Rhineland-Palatinate and was recognized for her efforts to promote equal educational opportunities for women.
The name Hunhoff also has connections to various place names in Germany, such as Hunhoffshausen, a village in the state of Hesse, and Hunhoffstraße, a street in the city of Dortmund. These place names likely derived from the surname itself or from individuals who bore the name Hunhoff in those areas.
Throughout history, the Hunhoff surname has been found across various regions of Germany, as well as in neighboring countries like Austria and Switzerland, where German settlers and immigrants established communities. While the name may have evolved in spelling and pronunciation over time, its origins can be traced back to the German heartland and the agricultural roots of its earliest bearers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hunhoff
Among Census respondents with the surname Hunhoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Black (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Hunhoff 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 Hunhoff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.9% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 4
- Black or African American1.8% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hunhoff
Hunhoff appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
+11 bearers (+10.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 10,739 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | +11 bearers (+10.7%) | Up 10,739 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 Hunhoff 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 | #157,234 | #146,495 | 6.8% |
| Count | 103 | 114 | 10.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 27.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hunhoff bearers went from 103 to 114 (+10.7% change). The surname moved up 10,739 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #146,495.
FAQ
Hunhoff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hunhoff?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Hunhoff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Hunhoff?
Hunhoff ranks #146,495 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 114 people with the surname Hunhoff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Hunhoff.
Has Hunhoff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hunhoff went from 103 recorded bearers to 114. That is an increase of 11 (+10.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Hunhoff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hunhoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.5%) and Black (1.8%). 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 Hunhoff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.9% (107 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hunhoff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.9%), Hispanic (3.5%), Black (1.8%). 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 Hunhoff (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 Hunhoff mean?
A habitational surname likely derived from a placename, possibly a farmstead or settlement. 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 Hunhoff (0.04 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 Hunhoff?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.