2000
#10,615
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,770
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.03
Rare Last name
Overholt
A habitational surname referring to someone from the German town of Oberholtzen, meaning "upper woods."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,287 Americans carry the last name Overholt. That puts it at #10,649 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.96 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 104,276 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Overholt 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
3.3K
1 in 104,276
Census rank
#10,649
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,866 bearers of the surname Overholt in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.96 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10649th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Overholt, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Overholt
The surname Overholt originated in Germany in the early 16th century. It is derived from the German words "über" meaning "over" and "holz" meaning "wood" or "forest". The name likely referred to someone who lived near or beyond a wooded area.
Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various German church and municipal records from the 1500s and 1600s. Variant spellings from this time period include Überholt, Überholt, and Overholdtz.
In the late 17th century, members of the Overholt family immigrated to Pennsylvania as part of the German and Swiss Mennonite migration to the Americas. One of the earliest known Overholts in America was Jacob Overholt, born around 1680 in Germany, who settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania in the late 1600s.
Overholts can also be found in some early American records, such as the 1790 census of Pennsylvania which lists several Overholt households. The name appears in various forms such as Overholt, Overholdt, and Overhault.
Notable individuals with the Overholt surname include:
1. Henry Overholt (1754-1831), a Pennsylvanian farmer and distiller who founded the Overholt Distillery in West Overton, Pennsylvania in 1810, one of the oldest continually operating distilleries in the United States.
2. Abraham Overholt (1784-1870), son of Henry Overholt and manager of the family distillery after his father's death. He helped establish the Overholt brand as a leading American whiskey.
3. Jacob S. Overholt (1810-1889), grandson of Henry Overholt and president of the A. Overholt & Co. distillery in the late 19th century.
4. Anton Overholt (1865-1948), an American baseball player who played in the major leagues in the late 19th century.
5. Henry Clay Overholt (1870-1964), an American businessman and executive at the Overholt Distillery Company in the early 20th century.
The Overholt name remains most closely associated with the historic Overholt Distillery and the family's influence on the American whiskey industry in Pennsylvania and the broader United States.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Overholt
Among Census respondents with the surname Overholt, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Overholt 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 Overholt surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 2,645
- Two or more races3.7% · 106
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 79
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 16
- Black or African American0.5% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Overholt
Overholt 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
#10,987
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,894
+124 bearers (+4.5%)
Per 100,000 0.98
Rank movement Down 372 places
2020
#10,649
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,866
-28 bearers (-1.0%)
Per 100,000 0.96
Rank movement Up 338 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,615 | 2,770 | 1.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,987 | 2,894 | 0.98 | +124 bearers (+4.5%) | Down 372 places |
| 2020 | #10,649 | 2,866 | 0.96 | -28 bearers (-1.0%) | Up 338 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 Overholt 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 | #10,987 | #10,649 | 3.1% |
| Count | 2,894 | 2,866 | -1.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.98 | 0.96 | -2.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Overholt bearers went from 2,894 to 2,866 (-1.0% change). The surname moved up 338 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,987 to #10,649.
FAQ
Overholt surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Overholt?
Name Census estimates that about 3,287 living Americans carry the surname Overholt. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 104,276 residents.
How common is Overholt?
Overholt ranks #10,649 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.96 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 2,866 people with the surname Overholt. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,287), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.96 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.96 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 Overholt.
Has Overholt become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Overholt went from 2,894 recorded bearers to 2,866. That is a decrease of 28 (-1.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #10,987 to #10,649.
What does the Census say about the background of Overholt?
Among Census respondents with the surname Overholt, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) 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 Overholt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (2,645 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Overholt appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Two or More Races (3.7%), 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 Overholt (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 Overholt mean?
A habitational surname referring to someone from the German town of Oberholtzen, meaning "upper woods." 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 Overholt (0.96 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 Overholt?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Overholt at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.