2000
#6,644
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,692
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.74
Rare Last name
Lammers
Derived from the German word "Lammer," referring to a lamb, likely an occupational name for a shepherd.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,543 Americans carry the last name Lammers. That puts it at #6,707 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 61,836 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lammers 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
5.5K
1 in 61,836
Census rank
#6,707
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,834 bearers of the surname Lammers in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6707th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lammers, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lammers
The surname Lammers is of Dutch origin, originating in the Netherlands during the medieval period. It derives from the Middle Dutch word "lam," meaning lamb, and the occupational suffix "-er," indicating someone who worked with or raised lambs. The name likely referred to a shepherd or someone involved in the wool trade.
One of the earliest records of the name Lammers can be found in the Dutch city of Utrecht in the late 14th century, where a man named Jan Lammers was listed as a resident in 1387. The name was also present in other parts of the Netherlands, such as Friesland and Groningen.
In the 16th century, the name appeared in various Dutch records, including the Leiden Cloth Makers' Guild, where a certain Pieter Lammers was listed as a member in 1542. Another notable mention is in the 1598 Leiden Census, which recorded several families with the surname Lammers living in the city.
The Lammers name can be traced back to several place names in the Netherlands, such as Lammers Veen (Lammers' Marsh) in South Holland and Lammers Hagen (Lammers' Grove) in Friesland. These place names likely originated from early bearers of the surname who lived or owned land in those areas.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Lammers was Dirck Lammers (c. 1540-1610), a Dutch Golden Age painter from Haarlem. He was known for his portraits and religious paintings, and his works can be found in various museums across the Netherlands.
Another notable figure was Pieter Lammers (1663-1744), a Dutch architect who designed several churches and public buildings in Amsterdam, including the Oude Lutherse Kerk (Old Lutheran Church) and the Maagdenhuis (Maidenhuis), which now houses the University of Amsterdam.
In the 19th century, Henricus Lammers (1836-1897) was a Dutch Catholic priest and missionary who worked in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He founded several churches and schools in the region and played a significant role in spreading Catholicism in the Dutch colonies.
Gerrit Lammers (1880-1962) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as a member of the House of Representatives for the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) from 1933 to 1946.
Finally, Jacobus Lammers (1907-1985) was a Dutch linguist and professor at the University of Amsterdam. He made significant contributions to the study of Afrikaans and Dutch dialects, publishing several books and articles on the subject.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lammers
Among Census respondents with the surname Lammers, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Lammers 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 Lammers surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 4,477
- Two or more races2.9% · 142
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 111
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 34
- Black or African American0.5% · 23
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lammers
Lammers 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
#6,674
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,061
+369 bearers (+7.9%)
Per 100,000 1.72
Rank movement Down 30 places
2020
#6,707
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,834
-227 bearers (-4.5%)
Per 100,000 1.62
Rank movement Down 33 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,644 | 4,692 | 1.74 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,674 | 5,061 | 1.72 | +369 bearers (+7.9%) | Down 30 places |
| 2020 | #6,707 | 4,834 | 1.62 | -227 bearers (-4.5%) | Down 33 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 Lammers 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 | #6,674 | #6,707 | -0.5% |
| Count | 5,061 | 4,834 | -4.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.72 | 1.62 | -6.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lammers bearers went from 5,061 to 4,834 (-4.5% change). The surname moved down 33 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,674 to #6,707.
FAQ
Lammers surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lammers?
Name Census estimates that about 5,543 living Americans carry the surname Lammers. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 61,836 residents.
How common is Lammers?
Lammers ranks #6,707 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.62 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,834 people with the surname Lammers. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,543), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.62 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Lammers.
Has Lammers become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lammers went from 5,061 recorded bearers to 4,834. That is a decrease of 227 (-4.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,674 to #6,707.
What does the Census say about the background of Lammers?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lammers, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Lammers in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (4,477 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lammers appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Two or More Races (2.9%), Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Lammers (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 Lammers mean?
Derived from the German word "Lammer," referring to a lamb, likely an occupational name for a shepherd. 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 Lammers (1.62 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 Lammers?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Lammers is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.