2000
#136,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Neifer
A variant spelling of the German surname Neuffer, which referred to a newcomer or recent arrival.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 120 Americans carry the last name Neifer. That puts it at #152,989 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,856,286 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Neifer 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
120
1 in 2,856,286
Census rank
#152,989
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
105
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 105 bearers of the surname Neifer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152989th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Neifer, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Black (5.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Neifer
The surname NEIFER has its origins in Germany, with the earliest records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the German word "neuer," which means "new." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who was a newcomer or a settler in a particular region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name NEIFER can be found in the town records of Augsburg, a city in Bavaria, Germany. In 1572, a person by the name of Hans NEIFER is mentioned as a resident of the town. It's possible that this individual or his ancestors may have been among the first to bear this surname.
The name NEIFER also appears in various historical documents from the 17th and 18th centuries. For example, in 1687, a Johannes NEIFER is recorded as a landowner in the village of Niederkirchen, near Kaiserslautern, in the Palatinate region of Germany. This region was known for its agricultural communities, and the NEIFER family may have been involved in farming or related activities.
In the 19th century, the name NEIFER began to spread beyond Germany. One notable individual with this surname was Wilhelm NEIFER, a German-American artist born in 1842 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He is known for his landscape paintings and was active in the United States, where he lived and worked for several years.
Another notable NEIFER was Karl NEIFER, a German politician and lawyer who lived from 1869 to 1939. He served as a member of the Reichstag (the German parliament) during the Weimar Republic and was involved in various legal and political initiatives of his time.
In the early 20th century, a family with the surname NEIFER emigrated from Germany to Australia. One of their descendants, Heinrich NEIFER, born in 1912, became a prominent figure in the Australian agricultural industry, establishing a successful farming enterprise and contributing to the development of sustainable farming practices.
The NEIFER name can also be found in historical records from other parts of Europe, such as Switzerland and Austria, suggesting that the name may have spread beyond Germany over time. However, the majority of the early references and notable individuals with this surname seem to have originated in Germany.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neifer
Among Census respondents with the surname Neifer, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Black (5.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Neifer 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 Neifer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.6% · 92
- Two or more races6.7% · 7
- Black or African American5.7% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Neifer
Neifer 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
#145,220
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
+1 bearers (+0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,437 places
2020
#152,989
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
-9 bearers (-7.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,769 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 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | +1 bearers (+0.9%) | Down 8,437 places |
| 2020 | #152,989 | 105 | 0.04 | -9 bearers (-7.9%) | Down 7,769 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 Neifer 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 | #145,220 | #152,989 | -5.3% |
| Count | 114 | 105 | -7.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -12.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Neifer bearers went from 114 to 105 (-7.9% change). The surname moved down 7,769 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #152,989.
FAQ
Neifer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Neifer?
Name Census estimates that about 120 living Americans carry the surname Neifer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,856,286 residents.
How common is Neifer?
Neifer ranks #152,989 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 105 people with the surname Neifer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (120), 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 Neifer.
Has Neifer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Neifer went from 114 recorded bearers to 105. That is a decrease of 9 (-7.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #152,989.
What does the Census say about the background of Neifer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Neifer, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Black (5.7%). 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 Neifer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (92 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Neifer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.6%), Two or More Races (6.7%), Black (5.7%). 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 Neifer (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 Neifer mean?
A variant spelling of the German surname Neuffer, which referred to a newcomer or recent arrival. 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 Neifer (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 have the last name Neifer?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Neifer at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.