2000
#14,841
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,832
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.68
Rare Last name
Maass
A surname derived from the German word "Mäß," meaning moderate or temperate.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,126 Americans carry the last name Maass. That puts it at #15,238 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 161,220 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Maass 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
2.1K
1 in 161,220
Census rank
#15,238
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,854 bearers of the surname Maass in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15238th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Maass, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Maass
The surname Maass originated in Germany and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is derived from the German word "mäß," which means "moderate" or "temperate." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who was known for their moderation or temperance.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Maass can be found in historical documents from the German states of Bavaria and Prussia. One notable example is a record from the town of Regensburg in Bavaria, dated 1289, which mentions a person named Konrad Maass.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, the Maass name appeared in various German town records and manuscripts. It was often spelled in slightly different ways, such as "Maes," "Maesse," or "Maße," reflecting regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions.
One of the earliest known bearers of the Maass surname was Johannes Maass, a German scholar and theologian born in Nuremberg in 1542. He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and authored several influential works on religious doctrine.
Another notable individual with the Maass surname was Wilhelm Maass, a German mathematician born in 1819. He made significant contributions to the field of number theory and is best known for his work on the Maass wave forms, which are named after him.
In the 19th century, the Maass name gained further recognition with the birth of Joachim Maass in 1856. He was a German mining engineer and industrialist who played a crucial role in the development of the coal mining industry in the Ruhr region of Germany.
Another prominent bearer of the Maass surname was Carl Maass, a German-American architect born in 1870. He was known for his work on several iconic buildings in Chicago, including the Marquette Building and the Chicago Theatre.
The name Maass has also been associated with several place names in Germany, such as Maass-Nendeln, a municipality in the state of Baden-Württemberg, and Maass-Hausen, a village in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. These place names likely originated from individuals with the Maass surname who lived or owned land in those areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Maass
Among Census respondents with the surname Maass, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Maass 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 Maass surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 1,694
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 82
- Two or more races2.3% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 13
- Black or African American0.4% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Maass
Maass 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
#15,712
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,856
+24 bearers (+1.3%)
Per 100,000 0.63
Rank movement Down 871 places
2020
#15,238
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,854
-2 bearers (-0.1%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Up 474 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,841 | 1,832 | 0.68 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,712 | 1,856 | 0.63 | +24 bearers (+1.3%) | Down 871 places |
| 2020 | #15,238 | 1,854 | 0.62 | -2 bearers (-0.1%) | Up 474 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 Maass 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 | #15,712 | #15,238 | 3.0% |
| Count | 1,856 | 1,854 | -0.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.63 | 0.62 | -1.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Maass bearers went from 1,856 to 1,854 (-0.1% change). The surname moved up 474 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,712 to #15,238.
FAQ
Maass surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Maass?
Name Census estimates that about 2,126 living Americans carry the surname Maass. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 161,220 residents.
How common is Maass?
Maass ranks #15,238 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,854 people with the surname Maass. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,126), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Maass.
Has Maass become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Maass went from 1,856 recorded bearers to 1,854. That is a decrease of 2 (-0.1%). In the national ranking it rose from #15,712 to #15,238.
What does the Census say about the background of Maass?
Among Census respondents with the surname Maass, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (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 Maass in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (1,694 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Maass appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.4%), Hispanic (4.4%), Two or More Races (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 Maass (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 Maass mean?
A surname derived from the German word "Mäß," meaning moderate or temperate. 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 Maass (0.62 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 many people have the last name Maass?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Maass at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.