2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Moebs
A topographic surname referring to someone living near a marsh or swamp.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Moebs. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Moebs 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Moebs in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Moebs, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Moebs
The surname MOEBS is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "muos" or "muoz," which means "marsh" or "swamp." It likely first emerged in the late 12th or early 13th century in areas of present-day Germany and Austria where marshlands were prevalent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a 1296 document from the town of Zittau, Saxony, which mentions a person named "Hans von Muebs." This suggests that the name may have initially been a locative surname, indicating a person's place of origin or residence near a marshy area.
In the 14th century, there are records of a family named MOEBS residing in the region of Silesia, now part of Poland and Germany. They were likely landowners or farmers who lived near marshlands or swampy areas.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name began to spread across various parts of Germany and neighboring countries as people migrated and settled in new areas. One notable bearer of the name was Johann Moebs (1590-1647), a Protestant theologian and author from Saxony.
In the 18th century, a branch of the MOEBS family settled in the town of Neukirchen, near Chemnitz, Saxony. One of their descendants, Christian Gottlob Moebs (1766-1825), was a prominent German jurist and legal scholar.
Another notable figure with the surname MOEBS was Friedrich Moebs (1840-1909), a German philologist and linguist who specialized in the study of Slavic languages. He was born in Jena, Saxony-Weimar, and made significant contributions to the field of Slavic studies.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several members of the MOEBS family emigrated from Germany to North America, bringing the name to regions like the United States and Canada.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moebs
Among Census respondents with the surname Moebs, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Moebs 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 Moebs surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.3% · 93
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 5
- Two or more races3.9% · 4
- Black or African American1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Moebs
Moebs 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
#140,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
+6 bearers (+5.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,374 places
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-16 bearers (-13.4%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 14,025 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #136,783 | 113 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #140,157 | 119 | 0.04 | +6 bearers (+5.3%) | Down 3,374 places |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -16 bearers (-13.4%) | Down 14,025 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 Moebs 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 | #140,157 | #154,182 | -10.0% |
| Count | 119 | 103 | -13.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Moebs bearers went from 119 to 103 (-13.4% change). The surname moved down 14,025 positions in the national ranking, going from #140,157 to #154,182.
FAQ
Moebs surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Moebs?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Moebs. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Moebs?
Moebs ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 103 people with the surname Moebs. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Moebs.
Has Moebs become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Moebs went from 119 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 16 (-13.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #140,157 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Moebs?
Among Census respondents with the surname Moebs, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Moebs in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.3% (93 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Moebs appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.3%), Hispanic (4.9%), Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Moebs (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 Moebs mean?
A topographic surname referring to someone living near a marsh or swamp. 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 Moebs (0.03 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 Moebs?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.