2000
#21,981
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,100
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.41
Rare Last name
Pflug
An occupational surname referring to a ploughman or farmer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,217 Americans carry the last name Pflug. That puts it at #24,554 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.35 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 281,639 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pflug 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
1.2K
1 in 281,639
Census rank
#24,554
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,061 bearers of the surname Pflug in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.35 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 24554th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pflug, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pflug
The surname PFLUG is of German origin, derived from the Old German word "pfluog" which means "plow." It originated in the medieval period, likely around the 12th or 13th century, and was initially used as an occupational surname for someone who worked as a plowman or farmer.
The name PFLUG first appeared in various German regions, including Bavaria, Saxony, and areas along the Rhine River. It was also found in regions of modern-day Austria and Switzerland. Some early variants of the spelling included Pfluog, Pflueg, and Pfluegh.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name PFLUG can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. The name is also mentioned in the Bairische Landtafeln, a Bavarian land registry from the late 13th century.
Notable individuals with the surname PFLUG throughout history include Johann Pflug (1481-1548), a German jurist and diplomat who served as the Bishop of Naumburg-Zeitz. Another notable bearer of the name was Julius von Pflug (1499-1564), a German lawyer and humanist scholar.
In the 16th century, a family of Pflug or Pflug von Rabenstein held significant influence in the region of Saxony-Anhalt. Heinrich Pflug von Rabenstein (1520-1585) was a Saxon nobleman and member of the Fruitbearing Society, a prominent literary society of the time.
Moving into the 18th century, Johann Baptist von Pflug (1785-1866) was an Austrian jurist and politician who served as the Minister of Justice for the Austrian Empire.
Another notable figure was the German sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch (1777-1857), whose mother's maiden name was Pflug. Rauch is renowned for his neoclassical sculptures, including the famous statue of Queen Luise of Prussia.
While the surname PFLUG is more commonly found in German-speaking regions, it has also spread to other parts of Europe and beyond through migration and diaspora communities over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pflug
Among Census respondents with the surname Pflug, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Pflug 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 Pflug surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.0% · 976
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 46
- Two or more races2.8% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 4
- Black or African American0.3% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pflug
Pflug 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
#23,920
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,055
-45 bearers (-4.1%)
Per 100,000 0.36
Rank movement Down 1,939 places
2020
#24,554
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,061
+6 bearers (+0.6%)
Per 100,000 0.35
Rank movement Down 634 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #21,981 | 1,100 | 0.41 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #23,920 | 1,055 | 0.36 | -45 bearers (-4.1%) | Down 1,939 places |
| 2020 | #24,554 | 1,061 | 0.35 | +6 bearers (+0.6%) | Down 634 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 Pflug 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 | #23,920 | #24,554 | -2.7% |
| Count | 1,055 | 1,061 | 0.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.36 | 0.35 | -1.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pflug bearers went from 1,055 to 1,061 (+0.6% change). The surname moved down 634 positions in the national ranking, going from #23,920 to #24,554.
FAQ
Pflug surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pflug?
Name Census estimates that about 1,217 living Americans carry the surname Pflug. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 281,639 residents.
How common is Pflug?
Pflug ranks #24,554 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.35 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 1,061 people with the surname Pflug. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,217), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.35 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.35 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 Pflug.
Has Pflug become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pflug went from 1,055 recorded bearers to 1,061. That is an increase of 6 (+0.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #23,920 to #24,554.
What does the Census say about the background of Pflug?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pflug, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and Two or More Races (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 Pflug in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.0% (976 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pflug appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.0%), Hispanic (4.3%), Two or More Races (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 Pflug (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 Pflug mean?
An occupational surname referring to a ploughman or farmer. 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 Pflug (0.35 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 Americans have the surname Pflug?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.