2000
#1,528
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,579
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.00
Uncommon Last name
Kraft
An occupational surname for a person who worked as a skilled worker, craftsman, or artisan.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 23,885 Americans carry the last name Kraft. That puts it at #1,688 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 6.97 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 14,350 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kraft 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Kraft with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
24K
1 in 14,350
Census rank
#1,688
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
7.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
21K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 20,829 bearers of the surname Kraft in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 6.97 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1688th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kraft, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kraft
The surname KRAFT has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the 12th century. The name is derived from the German word "kraft," which means "strength" or "power." It was likely adopted as a descriptive nickname for someone who possessed great physical or mental fortitude.
In its earliest recorded instances, the name appeared in various medieval manuscripts and records across central and southern Germany. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Heinrich Kraft, a landowner and knight who lived in the region of Swabia in the late 13th century.
The KRAFT name gained prominence in the 14th and 15th centuries, particularly in the cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg, where several notable families bearing the name emerged. Johann Kraft, a merchant and banker in Nuremberg (1390-1457), was one of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of his time.
As the name spread throughout Germany and neighboring regions, it also evolved into various spellings and regional variations, such as Krafft, Crafft, and Krafft. One notable bearer of the name was the German Renaissance artist and printmaker Albrecht Dürer, whose mother's maiden name was Kraft (1471-1528).
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the KRAFT name continued to be well-represented among German craftsmen, artisans, and tradesmen. Johann Georg Kraft, a renowned organ builder from Saxony (1697-1753), was responsible for constructing several important church organs in Germany and neighboring countries.
As Germans migrated to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas, the KRAFT name traveled with them. In the United States, one of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Johann Caspar Kraft, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the early 18th century.
Throughout its history, the KRAFT surname has been borne by numerous notable individuals, including the German philosopher and writer Max Kraft (1857-1937), the German physicist Wolfgang Kraft (1912-1997), and the American entrepreneur James L. Kraft (1874-1953), who founded the Kraft Foods Company.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kraft
Among Census respondents with the surname Kraft, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Kraft 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 Kraft surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.3% · 19,011
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 711
- Two or more races3.1% · 642
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 163
- Black or African American0.8% · 159
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 143
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kraft
Kraft 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
#1,635
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 22,035
+456 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 7.47
Rank movement Down 107 places
2020
#1,688
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 20,829
-1,206 bearers (-5.5%)
Per 100,000 6.97
Rank movement Down 53 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,528 | 21,579 | 8.00 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,635 | 22,035 | 7.47 | +456 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 107 places |
| 2020 | #1,688 | 20,829 | 6.97 | -1,206 bearers (-5.5%) | Down 53 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 Kraft 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 | #1,635 | #1,688 | -3.2% |
| Count | 22,035 | 20,829 | -5.5% |
| Per 100K | 7.47 | 6.97 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kraft bearers went from 22,035 to 20,829 (-5.5% change). The surname moved down 53 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,635 to #1,688.
FAQ
Kraft surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kraft?
Name Census estimates that about 23,885 living Americans carry the surname Kraft. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 14,350 residents.
How common is Kraft?
Kraft ranks #1,688 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 6.97 per 100,000 residents, which is about 7 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 20,829 people with the surname Kraft. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (23,885), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 6.97 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 6.97 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 7 of them to have the surname Kraft.
Has Kraft become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kraft went from 22,035 recorded bearers to 20,829. That is a decrease of 1,206 (-5.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,635 to #1,688.
What does the Census say about the background of Kraft?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kraft, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Kraft in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.3% (19,011 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kraft appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.3%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Kraft (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 Kraft mean?
An occupational surname for a person who worked as a skilled worker, craftsman, or artisan. 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 Kraft (6.97 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 Kraft?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.