2000
#52,827
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 368
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.14
Very Rare Last name
Knollenberg
A topographic surname derived from the German word for "small hill" or "knoll".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 445 Americans carry the last name Knollenberg. That puts it at #56,803 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.13 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 770,234 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Knollenberg 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
445
1 in 770,234
Census rank
#56,803
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
388
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 388 bearers of the surname Knollenberg in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.13 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 56803rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Knollenberg, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Knollenberg
The surname KNOLLENBERG originates from Germany and is believed to date back to the 16th century. It is a locational name derived from the Old German words "knoll" meaning a small round hill, and "berg" meaning a mountain or hill. The name likely referred to someone who lived near a distinctive rounded hilltop.
KNOLLENBERG is thought to have first appeared in the region of Bavaria in southern Germany. Early variations of the spelling included Knollenberger, Knollenberg, and Knollberger. The name may have originated in the town of Knollenberg itself, though records of an exact location are scarce.
One of the earliest known references to the KNOLLENBERG name appears in the Bavarian church records of Mühldorf am Inn from the late 1500s. An entry from 1589 mentions a Hans Knollenberg who was a local farmer and landowner.
In the 17th century, the KNOLLENBERG name crops up in various Germanic records and manuscripts from towns across Bavaria and parts of Austria. Notable examples include a Johann Knollenberger born in 1621 in the village of Ruhstorf an der Rott, and a Michael Knollenberg who was a master baker in Traunstein in 1673.
As the centuries passed, people with the KNOLLENBERG surname gradually spread across the German states and into neighboring European countries. Georg Knollenberg (1770-1847) was a respected jurist and legal scholar who served in the courts of Weimar. Franz Knollenberg (1828-1898) was a Munich-born artist renowned for his landscape paintings.
Other notable individuals with this surname include the historian Bernhard Knollenberg (1892-1973), who taught at Yale University and wrote extensively on the American Revolution. Ernst Knollenberg (1810-1865) was a Prussian military officer who served in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Knollenberg
Among Census respondents with the surname Knollenberg, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Knollenberg 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 Knollenberg surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 352
- Two or more races4.4% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Knollenberg
Knollenberg 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
#52,736
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 393
+25 bearers (+6.8%)
Per 100,000 0.13
Rank movement Up 91 places
2020
#56,803
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 388
-5 bearers (-1.3%)
Per 100,000 0.13
Rank movement Down 4,067 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #52,827 | 368 | 0.14 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #52,736 | 393 | 0.13 | +25 bearers (+6.8%) | Up 91 places |
| 2020 | #56,803 | 388 | 0.13 | -5 bearers (-1.3%) | Down 4,067 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 Knollenberg 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 | #52,736 | #56,803 | -7.7% |
| Count | 393 | 388 | -1.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.13 | 0.13 | -0.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Knollenberg bearers went from 393 to 388 (-1.3% change). The surname moved down 4,067 positions in the national ranking, going from #52,736 to #56,803.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Knollenberg
FAQ
Knollenberg surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Knollenberg?
Name Census estimates that about 445 living Americans carry the surname Knollenberg. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 770,234 residents.
How common is Knollenberg?
Knollenberg ranks #56,803 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.13 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 388 people with the surname Knollenberg. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (445), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.13 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.13 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 Knollenberg.
Has Knollenberg become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Knollenberg went from 393 recorded bearers to 388. That is a decrease of 5 (-1.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #52,736 to #56,803.
What does the Census say about the background of Knollenberg?
Among Census respondents with the surname Knollenberg, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%). 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 Knollenberg in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (352 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Knollenberg appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Two or More Races (4.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%). 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 Knollenberg (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 Knollenberg mean?
A topographic surname derived from the German word for "small hill" or "knoll". 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 Knollenberg (0.13 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 common is the surname Knollenberg?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the last name Knollenberg on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.