2000
#121,058
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 132
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Pfingst
A surname derived from the German word "Pfingsten", meaning Pentecost or Whitsunday.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Pfingst. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pfingst 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Pfingst in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pfingst, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pfingst
The surname Pfingst has its origins in Germany, where it first appeared in the late Middle Ages, around the 14th or 15th century. The name is believed to be derived from the German word "Pfingsten," which means "Pentecost" or "Whitsunday," a Christian festival celebrated on the seventh Sunday after Easter.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pfingst can be found in the archives of the city of Nuremberg, where a certain Johannes Pfingst was mentioned in a document dated 1486. The name was also present in other parts of southern Germany, such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.
The Pfingst name may have originated as a descriptive surname, given to individuals who were born or baptized around the time of Pentecost. Alternatively, it could have been an occupational surname for someone who worked in a church or a monastery, where the Pentecost festival was an important event.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the Pfingst surname was Hans Pfingst, a German theologian and reformer who lived from 1480 to 1543. He was a follower of Martin Luther and played a role in the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
Another historical figure with the Pfingst name was Johann Georg Pfingst, a German composer and organist who lived from 1683 to 1756. He was active in the early Baroque period and contributed to the development of church music in Germany.
In the 19th century, a famous bearer of the Pfingst name was Gustav Pfingst, a German architect who was born in 1838 and died in 1908. He was known for his work on various public buildings and churches in cities like Berlin and Dresden.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Pfingst name in the United States can be traced back to the late 18th century, when German immigrants began arriving in significant numbers. For example, a Johann Pfingst was listed as a resident of Pennsylvania in the 1790 census.
Another notable American with the Pfingst surname was Charles Pfingst, a baseball player who was born in 1884 and played for various teams in the early 20th century, including the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pfingst
Among Census respondents with the surname Pfingst, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Pfingst 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 Pfingst surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.6% · 106
- Two or more races2.7% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 2
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pfingst
Pfingst 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
#139,228
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
-12 bearers (-9.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 18,170 places
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-8 bearers (-6.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,726 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #121,058 | 132 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #139,228 | 120 | 0.04 | -12 bearers (-9.1%) | Down 18,170 places |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-6.7%) | Down 8,726 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 Pfingst 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 | #139,228 | #147,954 | -6.3% |
| Count | 120 | 112 | -6.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pfingst bearers went from 120 to 112 (-6.7% change). The surname moved down 8,726 positions in the national ranking, going from #139,228 to #147,954.
FAQ
Pfingst surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pfingst?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Pfingst. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Pfingst?
Pfingst ranks #147,954 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 112 people with the surname Pfingst. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), 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 Pfingst.
Has Pfingst become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pfingst went from 120 recorded bearers to 112. That is a decrease of 8 (-6.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #139,228 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Pfingst?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pfingst, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (1.8%). 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 Pfingst in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.6% (106 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pfingst appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.6%), Two or More Races (2.7%), Hispanic (1.8%). 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 Pfingst (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 Pfingst mean?
A surname derived from the German word "Pfingsten", meaning Pentecost or Whitsunday. 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 Pfingst (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 Pfingst?
See how common the surname Pfingst is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.