2000
#133,114
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Neifeld
A German surname referring to someone from a new or cultivated field.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 135 Americans carry the last name Neifeld. That puts it at #143,511 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,538,921 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Neifeld 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
135
1 in 2,538,921
Census rank
#143,511
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
118
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 118 bearers of the surname Neifeld in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 143511th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Neifeld, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Black (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Neifeld
The surname Neifeld has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the German word "neu," meaning "new," and the word "feld," meaning "field" or "clearing." This suggests that the name may have referred to someone who lived on or owned a newly cultivated field or land.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name can be found in the town of Lübeck, where a merchant named Hans Neifeld was mentioned in a 1567 document. Another early record comes from the town of Rostock, where a man named Jürgen Neifeld was listed as a landowner in the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, the name Neifeld began to appear in various regions of Germany, including the areas around Hannover and Braunschweig. During this time, the spelling of the name sometimes varied, with variations such as Neufeld, Neyfeld, and Neufelde being found in historical records.
One notable individual with the surname Neifeld was Johann Neifeld, a Lutheran theologian and scholar who lived from 1625 to 1698. He was born in the town of Lübeck and later became a professor at the University of Rostock, where he taught theology and philosophy.
Another prominent figure was Wilhelm Neifeld, a German military officer who served during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. He was born in 1785 in Hannover and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a colonel in the Prussian army.
In the late 18th century, a man named Christian Neifeld was recorded as a landowner in the village of Dömitz, located in the region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. His descendants continued to live in the area, and the name Neifeld can still be found in some local records from that region.
During the 19th century, some individuals with the surname Neifeld emigrated from Germany to other parts of Europe and to North America. For example, a man named Friedrich Neifeld was born in 1832 in the town of Schwerin and later settled in the United States, where he worked as a farmer in the state of Wisconsin.
Another notable figure was August Neifeld, a German-American artist who was born in 1861 in the city of Berlin. He later immigrated to the United States and became known for his landscape paintings, particularly those depicting scenes from the American West.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neifeld
Among Census respondents with the surname Neifeld, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Black (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Neifeld 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 Neifeld surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 107
- Two or more races4.2% · 5
- Black or African American2.5% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Neifeld
Neifeld 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
#158,432
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
-15 bearers (-12.8%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 25,318 places
2020
#143,511
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 118
+16 bearers (+15.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 14,921 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #133,114 | 117 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #158,432 | 102 | 0.03 | -15 bearers (-12.8%) | Down 25,318 places |
| 2020 | #143,511 | 118 | 0.04 | +16 bearers (+15.7%) | Up 14,921 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 Neifeld 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 | #158,432 | #143,511 | 9.4% |
| Count | 102 | 118 | 15.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 31.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Neifeld bearers went from 102 to 118 (+15.7% change). The surname moved up 14,921 positions in the national ranking, going from #158,432 to #143,511.
FAQ
Neifeld surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Neifeld?
Name Census estimates that about 135 living Americans carry the surname Neifeld. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,538,921 residents.
How common is Neifeld?
Neifeld ranks #143,511 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 118 people with the surname Neifeld. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (135), 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 Neifeld.
Has Neifeld become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Neifeld went from 102 recorded bearers to 118. That is an increase of 16 (+15.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #158,432 to #143,511.
What does the Census say about the background of Neifeld?
Among Census respondents with the surname Neifeld, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Black (2.5%). 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 Neifeld in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (107 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Neifeld appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Two or More Races (4.2%), Black (2.5%). 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 Neifeld (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 Neifeld mean?
A German surname referring to someone from a new or cultivated field. 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 Neifeld (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 many people are called Neifeld?
If you just want to know how many Americans have the surname Neifeld, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.