2010
#152,628
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Mols
A surname of Dutch origin meaning "soil" or "earth".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 122 Americans carry the last name Mols. That puts it at #152,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,809,462 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mols 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 Mols with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
122
1 in 2,809,462
Census rank
#152,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
106
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 106 bearers of the surname Mols in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mols, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mols
The surname MOLS is of Dutch origin, and can be traced back to the 16th century in the Netherlands. The name is derived from the Old Dutch word "mol," meaning "mole" or "small hill," suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name may have lived near or on a small hill or mound.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the MOLS surname can be found in the Dutch baptismal records from the city of Leiden in the year 1587, where a child named Pieter MOLS was baptized. This indicates that the name was already well-established in the Netherlands by the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, the MOLS surname appears in various historical records from the Dutch provinces of Noord-Brabant and Zeeland. For example, a Cornelis MOLS was a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of Goes, Zeeland, in the 1650s.
As the Dutch expanded their colonial reach in the 17th and 18th centuries, the MOLS surname began to appear in records from Dutch settlements around the world. Notably, a Willem MOLS (1612-1672) was a Dutch explorer and navigator who charted parts of the coast of Australia and New Zealand.
In the 19th century, the MOLS surname gained some literary prominence with the Dutch author and poet Hendrik MOLS (1810-1859), whose works were influential in the development of Dutch Romantic literature.
Other notable historical figures with the MOLS surname include Johannes MOLS (1808-1873), a Dutch politician and jurist who served as the Minister of Justice in the Netherlands from 1866 to 1868, and Pieter MOLS (1870-1943), a Dutch sculptor known for his portraiture and religious works.
While the MOLS surname originated in the Netherlands, it has since spread around the world, with bearers of the name found in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, among others.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mols
Among Census respondents with the surname Mols, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Mols 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 Mols surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.6% · 96
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 3
- Two or more races2.8% · 3
- Black or African American1.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mols
Mols appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#152,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 289 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #152,628 | 107 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #152,339 | 106 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Up 289 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 Mols 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 | #152,628 | #152,339 | 0.2% |
| Count | 107 | 106 | -0.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mols bearers went from 107 to 106 (-0.9% change). The surname moved up 289 positions in the national ranking, going from #152,628 to #152,339.
FAQ
Mols surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mols?
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the surname Mols. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,809,462 residents.
How common is Mols?
Mols ranks #152,339 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 106 people with the surname Mols. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (122), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Mols.
Has Mols become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mols went from 107 recorded bearers to 106. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #152,628 to #152,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Mols?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mols, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Mols in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.6% (96 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mols appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.6%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.8%), Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Mols (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 Mols mean?
A surname of Dutch origin meaning "soil" or "earth". 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 Mols (0.04 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 common is the surname Mols?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Mols at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.