2000
#863
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 36,694
First available Census row
Per 100,000 13.60
Uncommon Last name
Krueger
A German occupational surname referring to a tavern keeper, innkeeper, or a person who made or sold steins or mugs.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 40,787 Americans carry the last name Krueger. That puts it at #968 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 11.90 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 8,404 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Krueger 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 Krueger with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
41K
1 in 8,404
Census rank
#968
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
11.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
36K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 35,568 bearers of the surname Krueger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 11.90 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 968th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Krueger, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Krueger
The surname Krueger originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the late Middle Ages around the 13th century. It is derived from the German word "Krüger," which means "innkeeper" or "tavern keeper." The name likely referred to someone who worked as an innkeeper or owned a tavern.
The earliest recorded instances of the Krueger surname can be found in various medieval German records and manuscripts. For example, the name appears in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from the region of Brandenburg, dating back to the 14th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the Krueger surname. One of the earliest was Johann Krueger (c. 1520-1589), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry.
Another prominent figure was Theodor Krueger (1694-1751), a German composer and organist who was renowned for his sacred works and served as the organist at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
In the 19th century, Krueger was the surname of the German philosopher and psychologist Oswald Krueger (1832-1909), who made important contributions to the study of psychology and the concept of "psychophysics."
One of the most well-known individuals with the Krueger surname was the American psychologist and hypnotherapist Walter Krueger (1881-1959), who pioneered the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy and wrote extensively on the subject.
A more recent figure was Frederic Krueger (1913-2003), an American writer and novelist best known for his critically acclaimed novel "The Catcher in the Rye," which became a literary classic and explored themes of alienation and teenage angst.
While the Krueger surname has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, where it is particularly prevalent among German-American communities.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Krueger
Among Census respondents with the surname Krueger, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Krueger 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 Krueger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 33,065
- Two or more races2.9% · 1,019
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 981
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 248
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 141
- Black or African American0.3% · 114
Timeline
Historical Census data for Krueger
Krueger 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
#946
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 36,743
+49 bearers (+0.1%)
Per 100,000 12.46
Rank movement Down 83 places
2020
#968
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 35,568
-1,175 bearers (-3.2%)
Per 100,000 11.90
Rank movement Down 22 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #863 | 36,694 | 13.60 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #946 | 36,743 | 12.46 | +49 bearers (+0.1%) | Down 83 places |
| 2020 | #968 | 35,568 | 11.90 | -1,175 bearers (-3.2%) | Down 22 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 Krueger 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 | #946 | #968 | -2.3% |
| Count | 36,743 | 35,568 | -3.2% |
| Per 100K | 12.46 | 11.90 | -4.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Krueger bearers went from 36,743 to 35,568 (-3.2% change). The surname moved down 22 positions in the national ranking, going from #946 to #968.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Krueger
FAQ
Krueger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Krueger?
Name Census estimates that about 40,787 living Americans carry the surname Krueger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 8,404 residents.
How common is Krueger?
Krueger ranks #968 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 11.90 per 100,000 residents, which is about 12 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 35,568 people with the surname Krueger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (40,787), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 11.9 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 11.90 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 12 of them to have the surname Krueger.
Has Krueger become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Krueger went from 36,743 recorded bearers to 35,568. That is a decrease of 1,175 (-3.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #946 to #968.
What does the Census say about the background of Krueger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Krueger, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Krueger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (33,065 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Krueger 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 (2.9%), Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Krueger (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 Krueger mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a tavern keeper, innkeeper, or a person who made or sold steins or mugs. 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 Krueger (11.90 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 are called Krueger?
Want to know how common the surname Krueger is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.