2000
#1,455
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 22,509
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.34
Uncommon Last name
Neff
A German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) occupational surname referring to a nephew or grandson, from the Middle High German "neve."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 25,103 Americans carry the last name Neff. That puts it at #1,597 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 7.32 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 13,654 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Neff 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
25K
1 in 13,654
Census rank
#1,597
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
7.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
22K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 21,891 bearers of the surname Neff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 7.32 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1597th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Neff, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Neff
The surname NEFF originated in Germany and Switzerland in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old High German word "nevo," meaning nephew or cousin. This suggests that the name initially referred to a familial relationship or kinship tie.
One of the earliest recorded references to the NEFF surname appears in the town records of Freiburg im Breisgau, a city in southwestern Germany, dating back to the 13th century. The name was also found in various Swiss records from the same period, such as the Rödel von Nidwalden from 1296.
In the 14th century, the NEFF surname appears in the Berner Schreiberrodel, a register of scribes and officials in the city of Bern, Switzerland. Notable examples include Johannes Neff, a scribe mentioned in 1337, and Hensli Neff, a citizen of Bern recorded in 1349.
The NEFF name can also be traced to various place names in Germany and Switzerland, such as Neftenbach, a town in the Swiss canton of Zurich, and Neffelbach, a village in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. These place names likely originated from the same root word as the surname.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the NEFF surname was Felix Neff, a Protestant missionary born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1798. He was known for his work in the French Alps and is commemorated with a statue in Grenoble, France.
Another notable figure was Johann Jakob Neff, a Swiss painter and engraver born in Zurich in 1784. He is known for his landscapes and vedute (cityscape paintings) depicting scenes from Switzerland and Italy.
In the 19th century, Johan Neff was a Swiss soldier and military leader who served in the Napoleonic Wars. He was born in Bern in 1765 and participated in several major battles, including the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.
The NEFF surname also gained prominence in the United States, where it was brought by German and Swiss immigrants. One notable American was Thomas E. Neff, a businessman and politician from Ohio who served as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio from 1893 to 1895.
In literature, the German writer and poet Theodor Neff, born in Stuttgart in 1805, is remembered for his contributions to the Swabian dialect poetry movement in the 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neff
Among Census respondents with the surname Neff, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Neff 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 Neff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.7% · 20,069
- Two or more races3.2% · 702
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 622
- Black or African American1.2% · 261
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 164
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 73
Timeline
Historical Census data for Neff
Neff 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
#1,577
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 22,764
+255 bearers (+1.1%)
Per 100,000 7.72
Rank movement Down 122 places
2020
#1,597
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,891
-873 bearers (-3.8%)
Per 100,000 7.32
Rank movement Down 20 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,455 | 22,509 | 8.34 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,577 | 22,764 | 7.72 | +255 bearers (+1.1%) | Down 122 places |
| 2020 | #1,597 | 21,891 | 7.32 | -873 bearers (-3.8%) | Down 20 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 Neff 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 | #1,577 | #1,597 | -1.3% |
| Count | 22,764 | 21,891 | -3.8% |
| Per 100K | 7.72 | 7.32 | -5.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Neff bearers went from 22,764 to 21,891 (-3.8% change). The surname moved down 20 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,577 to #1,597.
FAQ
Neff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Neff?
Name Census estimates that about 25,103 living Americans carry the surname Neff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 13,654 residents.
How common is Neff?
Neff ranks #1,597 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 7.32 per 100,000 residents, which is about 7 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 21,891 people with the surname Neff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (25,103), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 7.32 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 7.32 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 7 of them to have the surname Neff.
Has Neff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Neff went from 22,764 recorded bearers to 21,891. That is a decrease of 873 (-3.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,577 to #1,597.
What does the Census say about the background of Neff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Neff, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (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 Neff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (20,069 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Neff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.7%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (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 Neff (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 Neff mean?
A German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) occupational surname referring to a nephew or grandson, from the Middle High German "neve." 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 Neff (7.32 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 are called Neff?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Neff is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.