2010
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Richtman
A surname derived from the German words "Richt" (judging) and "Mann" (man), possibly referring to a magistrate or judge.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 112 Americans carry the last name Richtman. That puts it at #156,269 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,060,307 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Richtman 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
112
1 in 3,060,307
Census rank
#156,269
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
98
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 98 bearers of the surname Richtman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 156269th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Richtman, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Richtman
The surname "RICHTMAN" is believed to have originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the early 13th century. It is a locational surname derived from the place name "Richt" or "Richt-man," which likely referred to a person or family who lived near a river or stream. The name's roots can be traced back to the Old German word "riht," meaning "straight" or "direct," in reference to the directional flow of a waterway.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from the region of Saxony, dated around 1230. Here, a certain "Henricus Richtman" is mentioned as a landowner in the town of Meissen.
In the 14th century, the Richtman name appeared in various records across central and northern Germany, including city chronicles and tax registers. Notable individuals from this era include Johannes Richtman, a merchant from Lübeck who was involved in the Hanseatic League's trade activities in the Baltic region (born c. 1325).
As the name spread, it underwent several spelling variations, such as "Richtmann," "Rythmann," and "Rietmann," reflecting regional dialects and scribal conventions of the time. One notable bearer of the name was Hans Richtman, a Protestant reformer and theologian from Nuremberg, who lived from 1505 to 1574.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Richtman surname is found in various regions of the Holy Roman Empire, including the Duchy of Prussia and the Electorate of Brandenburg. During this period, a branch of the family settled in the town of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), where they were prominent merchants and burghers. One notable figure was Johann Richtman (1587-1648), a successful merchant and city councilor.
The name also spread to other parts of Europe, including the Netherlands, where it appeared as "Richtman" and "Richtmann." In the 18th century, a Dutch family bearing this surname emigrated to the Cape Colony in South Africa, where they became prominent landowners and wine farmers.
Other notable individuals with the Richtman surname include Johann Gottfried Richtman (1739-1807), a German composer and organist from Saxony, and Friedrich Wilhelm Richtman (1810-1892), a German-born explorer and naturalist who settled in Australia and made significant contributions to the study of the country's flora and fauna.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Richtman
Among Census respondents with the surname Richtman, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Richtman 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 Richtman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 98
Timeline
Historical Census data for Richtman
Richtman appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#156,269
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 98
-10 bearers (-9.3%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 4,737 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #156,269 | 98 | 0.03 | -10 bearers (-9.3%) | Down 4,737 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 Richtman 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 | #151,532 | #156,269 | -3.1% |
| Count | 108 | 98 | -9.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -18.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Richtman bearers went from 108 to 98 (-9.3% change). The surname moved down 4,737 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #156,269.
FAQ
Richtman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Richtman?
Name Census estimates that about 112 living Americans carry the surname Richtman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,060,307 residents.
How common is Richtman?
Richtman ranks #156,269 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 98 people with the surname Richtman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (112), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Richtman.
Has Richtman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Richtman went from 108 recorded bearers to 98. That is a decrease of 10 (-9.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #151,532 to #156,269.
What does the Census say about the background of Richtman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Richtman, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%. 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 Richtman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (98 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Richtman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (100.0%). 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 Richtman (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 Richtman mean?
A surname derived from the German words "Richt" (judging) and "Mann" (man), possibly referring to a magistrate or judge. 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 Richtman (0.03 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 Richtman?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.