2000
#134,929
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Nosbusch
A German surname meaning "of the noce" or "coming from the nut-tree".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Nosbusch. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Nosbusch 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
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Nosbusch in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Nosbusch, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%) and Hispanic (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Nosbusch
The surname NOSBUSCH is believed to have originated in the region of modern-day Germany, likely in the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is thought to be derived from a German place name, possibly a town or village where the earliest known bearers of the name resided.
One theory suggests that the name may have roots in the Old German words "nos" meaning "nose" and "busch" meaning "bush" or "thicket". This could imply that the original location associated with the name had a distinctive geographical feature, such as a nose-shaped hill or a prominent bush or thicket near a settlement.
While the name NOSBUSCH is not found in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners in England, there are records of the name appearing in various German regional archives and church records from the 16th century onwards. The earliest known record of the name dates back to 1542, when a Hans NOSBUSCH is mentioned in the records of the town of Marburg, in the state of Hesse, Germany.
In the 17th century, the name is recorded in the town of Bielefeld, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where a Johann NOSBUSCH is listed as a master baker in 1673. This suggests that the name had spread to different regions of Germany by this time.
One notable figure with the surname NOSBUSCH was Johann Friedrich NOSBUSCH, a German philosopher and theologian born in 1786 in the town of Bückeburg, in the state of Lower Saxony. He is known for his work on the philosophy of religion and his writings on the relationship between faith and reason.
Another individual of historical significance was Carl Friedrich NOSBUSCH, a German military officer and strategist who lived from 1805 to 1871. He served in the Prussian army and is credited with developing innovative tactics and strategies that influenced later military thinkers.
In the 19th century, the name appears in the records of German immigrants to the United States. One such immigrant was Heinrich NOSBUSCH, who arrived in New York in 1848 and later settled in the Midwest, where he worked as a farmer.
Another notable bearer of the name was Auguste NOSBUSCH, a German painter and artist who lived from 1857 to 1934. She was known for her landscape paintings and her depictions of rural life in Germany.
As the NOSBUSCH family spread across Germany and later to other parts of the world, the name underwent various spelling variations, such as NOSSBUSCH, NOSSBUSCH, and NOSSBUSH, reflecting regional differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nosbusch
Among Census respondents with the surname Nosbusch, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%) and Hispanic (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Nosbusch 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 Nosbusch surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.8% · 114
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Nosbusch
Nosbusch 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
#143,149
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
+1 bearers (+0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,220 places
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
+3 bearers (+2.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 361 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #134,929 | 115 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #143,149 | 116 | 0.04 | +1 bearers (+0.9%) | Down 8,220 places |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | +3 bearers (+2.6%) | Up 361 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 Nosbusch 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 | #143,149 | #142,788 | 0.3% |
| Count | 116 | 119 | 2.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Nosbusch bearers went from 116 to 119 (+2.6% change). The surname moved up 361 positions in the national ranking, going from #143,149 to #142,788.
FAQ
Nosbusch surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Nosbusch?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Nosbusch. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Nosbusch?
Nosbusch ranks #142,788 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 119 people with the surname Nosbusch. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), 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 Nosbusch.
Has Nosbusch become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Nosbusch went from 116 recorded bearers to 119. That is an increase of 3 (+2.6%). In the national ranking it rose from #143,149 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Nosbusch?
Among Census respondents with the surname Nosbusch, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Nosbusch in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.8% (114 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Nosbusch appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%), Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Nosbusch (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 Nosbusch mean?
A German surname meaning "of the noce" or "coming from the nut-tree". 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 Nosbusch (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 Nosbusch?
See how many Americans have the surname Nosbusch on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.