2000
#42,529
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 480
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.18
Very Rare Last name
Leistner
A German topographic name referring to a person living by a mountainside.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 526 Americans carry the last name Leistner. That puts it at #49,502 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.15 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 651,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Leistner 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
526
1 in 651,624
Census rank
#49,502
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
459
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 459 bearers of the surname Leistner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.15 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 49502nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Leistner, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Leistner
The surname Leistner originated from the German-speaking regions of Europe, with its earliest known usage dating back to the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the Old German word "leist," which translates to "ledge" or "ridge," suggesting that the original bearers of this name may have resided near a prominent geographical feature or settlement situated on a ridge.
Leistner is believed to have emerged as a topographic surname, which describes the physical characteristics of a place or landscape. In the 14th century, records from the town of Freiberg in Saxony, Germany, mention individuals bearing the surname Leistner, indicating their presence in the region during that era.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Leistner name appears in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, where a certain Henricus Leistner is mentioned in an entry dated 1382. This suggests that the name had already been established by the late 14th century.
In the 16th century, the Leistner surname gained prominence with the birth of Johann Leistner (1523-1588), a German Lutheran theologian and reformer. He was a prominent figure during the Protestant Reformation and authored several theological works that influenced the religious landscape of the time.
Another notable individual bearing the Leistner name was Johann Christoph Leistner (1670-1744), a German composer and organist from Leipzig. His contributions to the world of Baroque music earned him recognition among his contemporaries.
The 18th century saw the birth of Johann Friedrich Leistner (1756-1835), a German jurist and legal scholar. His works on jurisprudence and legal theory were widely respected and studied in academic circles during his lifetime.
In the 19th century, the Leistner surname gained further prominence with the birth of Wilhelm Leistner (1829-1895), a German industrialist and entrepreneur. He founded the Leistner & Co. machinery manufacturing company, which played a significant role in the industrialization of Germany during that era.
More recently, in the 20th century, Helmut Leistner (1925-2010) was a notable German mathematician and computer scientist. His contributions to the field of computational geometry and algorithms were widely recognized, and he held academic positions at prestigious institutions throughout his career.
While the Leistner surname has its roots in the German-speaking regions, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to migration and diaspora. However, its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages, where it emerged as a topographic surname reflecting the geographical features of the areas where its bearers resided.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Leistner
Among Census respondents with the surname Leistner, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Leistner 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 Leistner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.1% · 432
- Two or more races3.1% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 5
- Black or African American0.4% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Leistner
Leistner 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
#45,740
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 467
-13 bearers (-2.7%)
Per 100,000 0.16
Rank movement Down 3,211 places
2020
#49,502
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 459
-8 bearers (-1.7%)
Per 100,000 0.15
Rank movement Down 3,762 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #42,529 | 480 | 0.18 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #45,740 | 467 | 0.16 | -13 bearers (-2.7%) | Down 3,211 places |
| 2020 | #49,502 | 459 | 0.15 | -8 bearers (-1.7%) | Down 3,762 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 Leistner 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 | #45,740 | #49,502 | -8.2% |
| Count | 467 | 459 | -1.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.16 | 0.15 | -4.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Leistner bearers went from 467 to 459 (-1.7% change). The surname moved down 3,762 positions in the national ranking, going from #45,740 to #49,502.
FAQ
Leistner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Leistner?
Name Census estimates that about 526 living Americans carry the surname Leistner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 651,624 residents.
How common is Leistner?
Leistner ranks #49,502 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.15 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 459 people with the surname Leistner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (526), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.15 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.15 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 Leistner.
Has Leistner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Leistner went from 467 recorded bearers to 459. That is a decrease of 8 (-1.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #45,740 to #49,502.
What does the Census say about the background of Leistner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Leistner, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Leistner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (432 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Leistner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.1%), Two or More Races (3.1%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Leistner (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 Leistner mean?
A German topographic name referring to a person living by a mountainside. 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 Leistner (0.15 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 Leistner?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.