2000
#10,595
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,776
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.03
Rare Last name
Knickerbocker
A surname derived from the Dutch words for "marble" and "baker", likely referring to a baker of children's clay marbles.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,080 Americans carry the last name Knickerbocker. That puts it at #11,250 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.90 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 111,284 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Knickerbocker 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 111,284
Census rank
#11,250
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,686 bearers of the surname Knickerbocker in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.90 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11250th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Knickerbocker, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Knickerbocker
The surname Knickerbocker originated in the Netherlands and is derived from the Dutch words "knokker" meaning toy marble maker, and "backer" meaning baker. It is believed to have first emerged in the 16th century, referring to bakers who made small toys or figures out of leftover dough for children.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in a 1647 document from the Dutch city of Utrecht, which mentions a Hendrick Jansen Knickerbocker. Another early record is from 1668, where a Lourens Knickerbocker is listed as a resident of the town of Monnickendam, near Amsterdam.
The name gained prominence in the early 18th century when it was used by American writer Washington Irving in his satirical work "A History of New York" (1809). Irving's fictional character, Diedrich Knickerbocker, is portrayed as the author of the book and is credited with giving the name to the Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam (now New York City).
Notable individuals with the Knickerbocker surname include:
1. Herman Knickerbocker (1779-1855), an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York.
2. Hubert Fauntleroy Knickerbocker (1836-1911), an American businessman and financier who co-founded the Knickerbocker Trust Company in New York City.
3. Cholly Knickerbocker (1892-1957), an American newspaper columnist and social commentator whose real name was Samuel Lederer Chambers.
4. Hubert Renfro Knickerbocker (1898-1949), an American writer and journalist who served as a war correspondent during World War II.
5. Conrad Knickerbocker (1923-2020), an American composer and music educator who taught at the University of Southern California for over 50 years.
The surname Knickerbocker is also associated with several place names in the United States, such as Knickerbocker Village in New York City and Knickerbocker Lake in Washington state, reflecting the influence of Washington Irving's literary work and the Dutch heritage of early American settlers.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Knickerbocker
Among Census respondents with the surname Knickerbocker, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Knickerbocker 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 Knickerbocker surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 2,498
- Two or more races3.5% · 95
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 46
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 15
- Black or African American0.3% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Knickerbocker
Knickerbocker 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
#11,163
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,834
+58 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 0.96
Rank movement Down 568 places
2020
#11,250
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,686
-148 bearers (-5.2%)
Per 100,000 0.90
Rank movement Down 87 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,595 | 2,776 | 1.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,163 | 2,834 | 0.96 | +58 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 568 places |
| 2020 | #11,250 | 2,686 | 0.90 | -148 bearers (-5.2%) | Down 87 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 Knickerbocker 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 | #11,163 | #11,250 | -0.8% |
| Count | 2,834 | 2,686 | -5.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.96 | 0.90 | -6.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Knickerbocker bearers went from 2,834 to 2,686 (-5.2% change). The surname moved down 87 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,163 to #11,250.
FAQ
Knickerbocker surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Knickerbocker?
Name Census estimates that about 3,080 living Americans carry the surname Knickerbocker. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 111,284 residents.
How common is Knickerbocker?
Knickerbocker ranks #11,250 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.90 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 2,686 people with the surname Knickerbocker. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,080), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.9 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.90 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 Knickerbocker.
Has Knickerbocker become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Knickerbocker went from 2,834 recorded bearers to 2,686. That is a decrease of 148 (-5.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,163 to #11,250.
What does the Census say about the background of Knickerbocker?
Among Census respondents with the surname Knickerbocker, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Knickerbocker in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (2,498 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Knickerbocker appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Knickerbocker (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 Knickerbocker mean?
A surname derived from the Dutch words for "marble" and "baker", likely referring to a baker of children's clay marbles. 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 Knickerbocker (0.90 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 last name Knickerbocker?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Knickerbocker at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.