2000
#3,034
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,951
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.06
Uncommon Last name
Krebs
A German occupational surname referring to a crab fisherman or seller, or a person with a crooked gait.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 12,318 Americans carry the last name Krebs. That puts it at #3,279 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.59 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 27,825 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Krebs 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 Krebs with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
12K
1 in 27,825
Census rank
#3,279
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
11K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 10,742 bearers of the surname Krebs in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.59 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3279th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Krebs, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Krebs
The surname KREBS is of German origin, derived from the German word "Krebs" meaning crab or cancer. It likely originated as a descriptive nickname or occupational name for someone who worked with crabs or crayfish, or possibly as a reference to someone's crab-like gait or physical appearance.
The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 14th century in various regions of Germany. In 1375, a Johannes Krebs was mentioned in records from the city of Würzburg. The name also appears in the Bavarian town of Augsburg, where a Hanns Krebs was documented in 1402.
In the 15th century, the KREBS name can be found in the German state of Saxony, with a Conrad Krebs recorded in Leipzig in 1437. During this period, variations in spelling such as Krebß, Krebse, and Krebzer were also used.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname was Hans Krebs, a German composer and organist who lived from around 1490 to 1540. He served as the court organist for the Elector of Saxony in Dresden.
Another prominent figure was Johann Baptist Krebs, a German composer and organist who lived from 1713 to 1780. He was a student of Johann Sebastian Bach and is considered one of the most important representatives of the Bach tradition.
In the 19th century, the KREBS surname gained further recognition with Hans Adolf Krebs, a German-British physician and biochemist who lived from 1900 to 1981. He is best known for his discovery of the citric acid cycle, also known as the Krebs cycle, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1953.
Another notable individual was Hans Krebs, a German-American biochemist who lived from 1888 to 1947. He made significant contributions to the understanding of cellular metabolism and is known for his work on the urea cycle, which is sometimes referred to as the Krebs-Henseleit cycle.
The KREBS surname has also been associated with various places, such as the town of Krebshausen in the German state of Hesse, which likely derived its name from the presence of crayfish in the local waters.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Krebs
Among Census respondents with the surname Krebs, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Krebs 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 Krebs surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.7% · 9,955
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 347
- Two or more races3.0% · 320
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 60
- Black or African American0.4% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Krebs
Krebs 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
#3,260
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,067
+116 bearers (+1.1%)
Per 100,000 3.75
Rank movement Down 226 places
2020
#3,279
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,742
-325 bearers (-2.9%)
Per 100,000 3.59
Rank movement Down 19 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,034 | 10,951 | 4.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,260 | 11,067 | 3.75 | +116 bearers (+1.1%) | Down 226 places |
| 2020 | #3,279 | 10,742 | 3.59 | -325 bearers (-2.9%) | Down 19 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 Krebs 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 | #3,260 | #3,279 | -0.6% |
| Count | 11,067 | 10,742 | -2.9% |
| Per 100K | 3.75 | 3.59 | -4.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Krebs bearers went from 11,067 to 10,742 (-2.9% change). The surname moved down 19 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,260 to #3,279.
FAQ
Krebs surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Krebs?
Name Census estimates that about 12,318 living Americans carry the surname Krebs. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 27,825 residents.
How common is Krebs?
Krebs ranks #3,279 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.59 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 10,742 people with the surname Krebs. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (12,318), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.59 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.59 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Krebs.
Has Krebs become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Krebs went from 11,067 recorded bearers to 10,742. That is a decrease of 325 (-2.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,260 to #3,279.
What does the Census say about the background of Krebs?
Among Census respondents with the surname Krebs, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Krebs in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.7% (9,955 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Krebs appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.7%), Hispanic (3.2%), Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Krebs (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 Krebs mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a crab fisherman or seller, or a person with a crooked gait. 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 Krebs (3.59 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 Krebs?
Want to know how common the surname Krebs is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.