2010
#149,395
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Koebcke
A surname of German origin referring to someone from the town of Köbcke.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Koebcke. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Koebcke 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Koebcke in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Koebcke, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Black (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Koebcke
The surname KOEBCKE originated in Germany, with its earliest known examples dating back to the 16th century. The name is derived from the German word "Köbke," which is a diminutive form of the name Jacob. It is believed that the name was initially given as a nickname to someone who was small or short in stature, or perhaps to the son of a man named Jacob.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname KOEBCKE can be found in the church records of Mecklenburg, Germany, where a man named Hans Koebcke was listed as a resident in the town of Rostock in the year 1578. Another early mention of the name appears in the tax records of the city of Berlin in 1612, where a certain Peter Koebcke is listed as a landowner.
In the 17th century, the surname KOEBCKE began to spread beyond the northern regions of Germany, with families bearing this name appearing in various parts of the country. For instance, a man named Johann Koebcke was born in the town of Erfurt in Thuringia in 1671, and his descendants later settled in the nearby state of Saxony.
One notable figure bearing the KOEBCKE surname was Friedrich Wilhelm Koebcke, a German painter and etcher who was born in Berlin in 1799 and died in the same city in 1853. He is known for his landscape paintings and etchings depicting scenes from the countryside around Berlin.
Another individual of note was Gustav Koebcke, a German botanist who lived from 1817 to 1892. He made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy and was particularly interested in the flora of Central Europe.
In the 19th century, the KOEBCKE surname began to appear in other parts of Europe and even in the United States, as some families bearing this name emigrated from Germany. For instance, a man named Heinrich Koebcke was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1825 and later emigrated to the United States, settling in the state of Wisconsin.
While not as common as some other German surnames, the KOEBCKE name has persisted through the centuries and can still be found in various parts of the world today, particularly in areas with significant German populations or ancestry.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Koebcke
Among Census respondents with the surname Koebcke, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Black (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Koebcke 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 Koebcke surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.1% · 102
- Two or more races3.6% · 4
- Black or African American2.7% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Koebcke
Koebcke 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
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
+2 bearers (+1.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 1,441 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #149,395 | 110 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | +2 bearers (+1.8%) | Up 1,441 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 Koebcke 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 | #149,395 | #147,954 | 1.0% |
| Count | 110 | 112 | 1.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Koebcke bearers went from 110 to 112 (+1.8% change). The surname moved up 1,441 positions in the national ranking, going from #149,395 to #147,954.
FAQ
Koebcke surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Koebcke?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Koebcke. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Koebcke?
Koebcke ranks #147,954 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 112 people with the surname Koebcke. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), 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 Koebcke.
Has Koebcke become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Koebcke went from 110 recorded bearers to 112. That is an increase of 2 (+1.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #149,395 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Koebcke?
Among Census respondents with the surname Koebcke, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Black (2.7%). 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 Koebcke in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (102 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Koebcke appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.1%), Two or More Races (3.6%), Black (2.7%). 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 Koebcke (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 Koebcke mean?
A surname of German origin referring to someone from the town of Köbcke. 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 Koebcke (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 Koebcke?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.