2000
#110,523
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 148
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Lauterwasser
A German surname meaning "clear water" or "fresh water."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 169 Americans carry the last name Lauterwasser. That puts it at #123,144 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.05 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,028,132 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lauterwasser 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
169
1 in 2,028,132
Census rank
#123,144
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
147
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 147 bearers of the surname Lauterwasser in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.05 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 123144th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lauterwasser, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lauterwasser
The surname Lauterwasser originated in Germany, likely in the 16th or 17th century. It is derived from the German words "lauter" meaning "clear" or "pure", and "wasser" meaning "water". This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone living near a source of clear, pure water such as a spring or stream.
Lauterwasser is believed to have first appeared in records from the regions of Bavaria and Saxony in southern and eastern Germany. The earliest known spelling variations include Lauterwasserr, Lauterwasserl, and Lauterwasserle. These minor spelling differences were common in historical records before standardized spellings became more widespread.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Lauterwasser name can be found in the Kirchenbücher (church records) from the town of Mühlhausen, Bavaria, where a Christoph Lauterwasser is listed as having been baptized in 1612. Another early example is Hans Lauterwasser, born around 1630 in the village of Niederau, Saxony.
In the 18th century, the name appears in various town and village records throughout southern and eastern Germany. For example, a Johann Lauterwasser is documented as living in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bavaria, in the 1760s. A Maria Lauterwasserlin is recorded as having married in the town of Zittau, Saxony, in 1782.
Notable historical figures with the Lauterwasser surname include:
1. Johann Michael Lauterwasser (1719-1784), a German painter and engraver from Nuremberg.
2. Georg Lauterwasser (1807-1873), a German philosopher and theologian who taught at the University of Leipzig.
3. Amalie Lauterwasser (1822-1896), a German novelist and poet from Saxony.
4. Karl Lauterwasser (1844-1924), a German engineer and industrialist who founded the Lauterwasser Machine Works in Chemnitz.
5. Theodor Lauterwasser (1870-1949), a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Berlin.
While the Lauterwasser name has its origins in Germany centuries ago, it eventually spread to other parts of Europe and beyond as people migrated over time. However, the majority of early historical records pertaining to this surname can be traced back to its German roots.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lauterwasser
Among Census respondents with the surname Lauterwasser, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Lauterwasser 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 Lauterwasser surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.9% · 138
- Two or more races4.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lauterwasser
Lauterwasser 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
#118,185
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 147
-1 bearers (-0.7%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 7,662 places
2020
#123,144
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 147
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 4,959 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #110,523 | 148 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #118,185 | 147 | 0.05 | -1 bearers (-0.7%) | Down 7,662 places |
| 2020 | #123,144 | 147 | 0.05 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 4,959 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 Lauterwasser 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 | #118,185 | #123,144 | -4.2% |
| Count | 147 | 147 | 0.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.05 | -1.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lauterwasser bearers went from 147 to 147 (+0.0% change). The surname moved down 4,959 positions in the national ranking, going from #118,185 to #123,144.
FAQ
Lauterwasser surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lauterwasser?
Name Census estimates that about 169 living Americans carry the surname Lauterwasser. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,028,132 residents.
How common is Lauterwasser?
Lauterwasser ranks #123,144 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.05 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 147 people with the surname Lauterwasser. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (169), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.05 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.05 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 Lauterwasser.
Has Lauterwasser become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lauterwasser went from 147 recorded bearers to 147. That is an increase of 0 (+0.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #118,185 to #123,144.
What does the Census say about the background of Lauterwasser?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lauterwasser, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.4%). 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 Lauterwasser in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.9% (138 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lauterwasser appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.9%), Two or More Races (4.1%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.4%). 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 Lauterwasser (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 Lauterwasser mean?
A German surname meaning "clear water" or "fresh water." 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 Lauterwasser (0.05 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 Americans have the surname Lauterwasser?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.