2000
#17,087
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,532
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.57
Rare Last name
Neugebauer
A German surname meaning "newcomer farmer" or "settler cultivating new land."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,860 Americans carry the last name Neugebauer. That puts it at #17,094 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.54 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 184,277 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Neugebauer 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
1.9K
1 in 184,277
Census rank
#17,094
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,622 bearers of the surname Neugebauer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.54 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 17094th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Neugebauer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Neugebauer
The surname Neugebauer originated in Germany, with its earliest recorded examples dating back to the 14th century. It is derived from the German words "neu" meaning "new" and "gebauer" meaning "farmer" or "peasant cultivator." This suggests that the name was likely given to someone who had recently settled in an area and taken up farming.
The name Neugebauer was initially more common in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, where many early records of the name can be found. Some of the earliest documented instances include a Johann Neugebauer mentioned in a 1387 record from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and a Hans Neugebauer listed in a 1423 register from the city of Leipzig.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name began to spread more widely across German-speaking areas, with various spellings such as Neugebawer, Neugebauer, and Neugepauer appearing in historical documents from different regions. One notable figure from this period was the astronomer and mathematician Erasmus Neugebauer, who lived from 1590 to 1635 and made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics.
As the name continued to evolve, it was sometimes associated with specific place names, such as Neugebauer auf dem Berg (Neugebauer on the Mountain) or Neugebauer am Feld (Neugebauer in the Field), reflecting the agricultural roots of the surname.
Other notable individuals with the Neugebauer surname throughout history include the German-American archaeologist and historian Otto Neugebauer (1899-1990), who specialized in the study of ancient mathematics and astronomy, and the American mathematician and computer scientist Oswald Neugebauer (1915-1997), known for his work in numerical analysis and computational mathematics.
In the 19th century, the name Neugebauer was also found among German immigrants to the United States, such as Johann Georg Neugebauer (1811-1887), a Lutheran pastor and author who settled in Pennsylvania, and Johann Neugebauer (1825-1902), a German-American soldier and businessman who fought in the American Civil War.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neugebauer
Among Census respondents with the surname Neugebauer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Neugebauer 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 Neugebauer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.5% · 1,500
- Two or more races3.0% · 49
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 14
- Black or African American0.7% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Neugebauer
Neugebauer 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
#17,775
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,576
+44 bearers (+2.9%)
Per 100,000 0.53
Rank movement Down 688 places
2020
#17,094
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,622
+46 bearers (+2.9%)
Per 100,000 0.54
Rank movement Up 681 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #17,087 | 1,532 | 0.57 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #17,775 | 1,576 | 0.53 | +44 bearers (+2.9%) | Down 688 places |
| 2020 | #17,094 | 1,622 | 0.54 | +46 bearers (+2.9%) | Up 681 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 Neugebauer 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 | #17,775 | #17,094 | 3.8% |
| Count | 1,576 | 1,622 | 2.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.53 | 0.54 | 2.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Neugebauer bearers went from 1,576 to 1,622 (+2.9% change). The surname moved up 681 positions in the national ranking, going from #17,775 to #17,094.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Neugebauer
FAQ
Neugebauer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Neugebauer?
Name Census estimates that about 1,860 living Americans carry the surname Neugebauer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 184,277 residents.
How common is Neugebauer?
Neugebauer ranks #17,094 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.54 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,622 people with the surname Neugebauer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,860), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.54 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.54 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Neugebauer.
Has Neugebauer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Neugebauer went from 1,576 recorded bearers to 1,622. That is an increase of 46 (+2.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #17,775 to #17,094.
What does the Census say about the background of Neugebauer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Neugebauer, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Neugebauer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.5% (1,500 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Neugebauer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.5%), Two or More Races (3.0%), Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Neugebauer (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 Neugebauer mean?
A German surname meaning "newcomer farmer" or "settler cultivating new land." 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 Neugebauer (0.54 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 Neugebauer?
See how many people have the last name Neugebauer on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.