2000
#139,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Reichhoff
An occupational surname derived from German meaning prosperous farmer or landowner.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 123 Americans carry the last name Reichhoff. That puts it at #151,639 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,786,621 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Reichhoff 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
123
1 in 2,786,621
Census rank
#151,639
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
107
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 107 bearers of the surname Reichhoff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 151639th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Reichhoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.7%) and Hispanic (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Reichhoff
The surname Reichhoff originated in Germany, with its earliest recorded examples dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the German words "reich," meaning "rich," and "hof," meaning "farm" or "estate," suggesting that the name may have been given to someone who owned a prosperous farmland or lived on a wealthy estate.
One of the earliest documented instances of the name Reichhoff can be found in the records of the town of Nuremberg, where a merchant named Hans Reichhoff was listed as a member of the local guild in 1549. Another early reference comes from the village of Regensburg, where a farmer named Jakob Reichhoff was mentioned in a land deed from 1573.
During the 17th century, the Reichhoff name appeared in several historical records, including the baptismal records of the Lutheran Church in Frankfurt, where a child named Anna Reichhoff was baptized in 1628. In the same century, a merchant named Wilhelm Reichhoff was recorded as a member of the prestigious Hanseatic League, a powerful trading guild that dominated commerce in Northern Europe.
As the Reichhoff family spread throughout Germany, variations in spelling emerged, such as Reichhof, Reickhoff, and Reichhove. Some of these variations may have been influenced by local dialects or the personal preferences of individual families.
One notable figure with the surname Reichhoff was Johann Christoph Reichhoff, a German composer and organist who lived from 1667 to 1737. He is best known for his contributions to the development of the baroque organ style and his sacred compositions.
Another prominent individual was Karl Friedrich Reichhoff, a German jurist and legal scholar who lived from 1788 to 1869. He served as a professor of law at the University of Heidelberg and published several influential works on jurisprudence.
In the 19th century, the name Reichhoff appeared in records from various German states, including Prussia and Bavaria. One example is Friedrich Reichhoff, a Prussian military officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and was awarded the Iron Cross for his bravery in battle.
Beyond Germany, the Reichhoff name also found its way to other parts of Europe and even to the Americas through emigration. For instance, a farmer named Anton Reichhoff was recorded as settling in the Russian Empire in the early 1800s, while a merchant named Johannes Reichhoff emigrated to the United States in the mid-19th century, establishing a family in Pennsylvania.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Reichhoff
Among Census respondents with the surname Reichhoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.7%) and Hispanic (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Reichhoff 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 Reichhoff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.5% · 100
- Two or more races4.7% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Reichhoff
Reichhoff 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
#132,206
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 128
+18 bearers (+16.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 7,551 places
2020
#151,639
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 107
-21 bearers (-16.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 19,433 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #139,757 | 110 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #132,206 | 128 | 0.04 | +18 bearers (+16.4%) | Up 7,551 places |
| 2020 | #151,639 | 107 | 0.04 | -21 bearers (-16.4%) | Down 19,433 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 Reichhoff 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 | #132,206 | #151,639 | -14.7% |
| Count | 128 | 107 | -16.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -10.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Reichhoff bearers went from 128 to 107 (-16.4% change). The surname moved down 19,433 positions in the national ranking, going from #132,206 to #151,639.
FAQ
Reichhoff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Reichhoff?
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the surname Reichhoff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,786,621 residents.
How common is Reichhoff?
Reichhoff ranks #151,639 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 107 people with the surname Reichhoff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (123), 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 Reichhoff.
Has Reichhoff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Reichhoff went from 128 recorded bearers to 107. That is a decrease of 21 (-16.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #132,206 to #151,639.
What does the Census say about the background of Reichhoff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Reichhoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.7%) and Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Reichhoff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Reichhoff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.5%), Two or More Races (4.7%), Hispanic (0.9%). 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 Reichhoff (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 Reichhoff mean?
An occupational surname derived from German meaning prosperous farmer or landowner. 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 Reichhoff (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 many people share the surname Reichhoff?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.