2000
#6,552
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,770
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.77
Rare Last name
Mach
A German and Jewish occupational surname referring to a person who made containers or troughs.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,595 Americans carry the last name Mach. That puts it at #6,649 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.63 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 61,261 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mach 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 Mach with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
5.6K
1 in 61,261
Census rank
#6,649
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,879 bearers of the surname Mach in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.63 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6649th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mach, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.2%) and Hispanic (3.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mach
The surname Mach is of German origin, derived from the Old High German word "maht," which means "power" or "might." This name is believed to have originated in the 12th or 13th century in various parts of Germany.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mach can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval documents from the Kingdom of Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. The name is also mentioned in the Mühlhäuser Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical records from the city of Mühlhausen, in the present-day state of Thuringia, Germany.
The name Mach has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest and most famous bearers of this surname was Ernst Mach, an Austrian physicist and philosopher born in 1838 and died in 1916. He is renowned for his contributions to the study of supersonic motion and the psychological representation of sensory experiences.
Another prominent figure with the surname Mach was David Mach, a Scottish sculptor and artist born in 1956. He is best known for his large-scale public installations and sculptures made from various found objects and materials.
In the literary world, the German writer and journalist Gustav Mach, born in 1835 and died in 1920, gained recognition for his works on social and political issues in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The name Mach has also been linked to various place names in Germany. For instance, the town of Machern in Saxony and the village of Machendorf in Lower Saxony are both derived from the surname Mach.
Over the centuries, the name Mach has undergone various spellings, including Mache, Mache, and Machener, reflecting regional variations and linguistic changes. However, the core meaning of the name, associated with power and might, has remained consistent throughout its history.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mach
Among Census respondents with the surname Mach, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.2%) and Hispanic (3.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Mach 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 Mach surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.8% · 2,869
- Asian and Pacific Islander32.2% · 1,573
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 171
- Two or more races2.7% · 132
- Black or African American2.3% · 113
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 21
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mach
Mach 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
#6,692
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,047
+277 bearers (+5.8%)
Per 100,000 1.71
Rank movement Down 140 places
2020
#6,649
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,879
-168 bearers (-3.3%)
Per 100,000 1.63
Rank movement Up 43 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,552 | 4,770 | 1.77 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,692 | 5,047 | 1.71 | +277 bearers (+5.8%) | Down 140 places |
| 2020 | #6,649 | 4,879 | 1.63 | -168 bearers (-3.3%) | Up 43 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 Mach 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 | #6,692 | #6,649 | 0.6% |
| Count | 5,047 | 4,879 | -3.3% |
| Per 100K | 1.71 | 1.63 | -4.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mach bearers went from 5,047 to 4,879 (-3.3% change). The surname moved up 43 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,692 to #6,649.
FAQ
Mach surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mach?
Name Census estimates that about 5,595 living Americans carry the surname Mach. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 61,261 residents.
How common is Mach?
Mach ranks #6,649 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.63 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 4,879 people with the surname Mach. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,595), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.63 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.63 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 Mach.
Has Mach become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mach went from 5,047 recorded bearers to 4,879. That is a decrease of 168 (-3.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,692 to #6,649.
What does the Census say about the background of Mach?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mach, the largest self-reported group is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.2%) and Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Mach in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.8% (2,869 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mach appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (58.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (32.2%), Hispanic (3.5%). 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 Mach (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 Mach mean?
A German and Jewish occupational surname referring to a person who made containers or troughs. 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 Mach (1.63 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 Mach?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Mach is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.