2000
#41,060
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 501
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.19
Very Rare Last name
Radermacher
A German occupational surname derived from the Middle Low German words "rader" meaning wheel and "maker" meaning maker, referring to a wheelwright.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 678 Americans carry the last name Radermacher. That puts it at #40,048 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.20 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 505,537 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Radermacher 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
678
1 in 505,537
Census rank
#40,048
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
591
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 591 bearers of the surname Radermacher in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.20 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 40048th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Radermacher, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.4%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Radermacher
The surname Radermacher is of German origin, dating back to the 16th century. It originated in the northern regions of Germany, particularly in the areas around Hamburg and Lower Saxony. The name is derived from the Middle Low German words "rader" meaning "wheelwright" or "cartwright" and "maker" meaning "maker" or "craftsman."
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in old parish records and guild registries from the 16th and 17th centuries in cities like Hamburg and Bremen. The name was often associated with the trade of wheelwrights and cartwrights, indicating that the original bearers of this surname were likely involved in this profession.
One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Radermacher was Hans Radermacher, a wheelwright born in Hamburg around 1580. His name appears in the city's guild records from the early 17th century.
Another notable figure was Johann Radermacher, a merchant and ship owner from Bremen who lived in the late 17th century. He was involved in the lucrative trade between the Hanseatic cities and the Netherlands.
In the 18th century, the name Radermacher spread to other parts of Germany, as well as to neighboring regions like the Netherlands and Denmark. One prominent individual was Friedrich Radermacher, a German philosopher and mathematician born in 1768 in Lauenburg, Pomerania. He made significant contributions to the field of education and wrote several influential works.
The name also has historical connections to the town of Raderbroich, which was once a separate municipality near Düsseldorf, Germany. It is likely that some Radermacher families originated from this area, as the name is a combination of the words "Rader" and "broich" (meaning "brook" or "stream").
In the 19th century, a notable figure was Karl Radermacher, a German architect born in 1835 in Cologne. He designed several notable buildings in his hometown, including the Wolkenburg district and the Church of St. Engelbert.
The surname Radermacher continues to be found predominantly in Germany, but due to migration and diaspora, it has also spread to other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Radermacher
Among Census respondents with the surname Radermacher, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.4%) and Two or More Races (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Radermacher 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 Radermacher surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.1% · 574
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 8
- Two or more races0.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
- Black or African American0.2% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Radermacher
Radermacher 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
#37,691
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 590
+89 bearers (+17.8%)
Per 100,000 0.20
Rank movement Up 3,369 places
2020
#40,048
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 591
+1 bearers (+0.2%)
Per 100,000 0.20
Rank movement Down 2,357 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #41,060 | 501 | 0.19 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #37,691 | 590 | 0.20 | +89 bearers (+17.8%) | Up 3,369 places |
| 2020 | #40,048 | 591 | 0.20 | +1 bearers (+0.2%) | Down 2,357 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 Radermacher 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 | #37,691 | #40,048 | -6.3% |
| Count | 590 | 591 | 0.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.20 | 0.20 | -1.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Radermacher bearers went from 590 to 591 (+0.2% change). The surname moved down 2,357 positions in the national ranking, going from #37,691 to #40,048.
FAQ
Radermacher surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Radermacher?
Name Census estimates that about 678 living Americans carry the surname Radermacher. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 505,537 residents.
How common is Radermacher?
Radermacher ranks #40,048 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.20 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 591 people with the surname Radermacher. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (678), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.2 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.20 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 Radermacher.
Has Radermacher become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Radermacher went from 590 recorded bearers to 591. That is an increase of 1 (+0.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #37,691 to #40,048.
What does the Census say about the background of Radermacher?
Among Census respondents with the surname Radermacher, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.4%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Radermacher in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.1% (574 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Radermacher appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (97.1%), Hispanic (1.4%), Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Radermacher (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 Radermacher mean?
A German occupational surname derived from the Middle Low German words "rader" meaning wheel and "maker" meaning maker, referring to a wheelwright. 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 Radermacher (0.20 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 share the surname Radermacher?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.