2000
#29,069
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 768
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.28
Very Rare Last name
Ringwald
An occupational German surname indicating someone who lived near a circular rampart or fortification.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 862 Americans carry the last name Ringwald. That puts it at #32,724 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.25 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 397,627 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ringwald 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
862
1 in 397,627
Census rank
#32,724
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
752
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 752 bearers of the surname Ringwald in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.25 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 32724th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ringwald, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Ringwald
The surname Ringwald originates from Germany, where it first appeared in the 13th century. It is derived from the Middle High German words "rinc" meaning "ring" and "walt" meaning "forest" or "wood." This suggests that the name may have referred to a person who lived near a ring-shaped forest or a clearing in the woods.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Ringwald can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from the region of Saxony, dated around 1270. This document mentions a certain "Heinricus Ringwald" from the town of Halberstadt.
Another early reference to the name Ringwald is in the Heidelberg University matriculation records from 1456, where a student named "Johannes Ringwald" is listed as enrolling in that year.
In the 16th century, there was a notable theologian and reformer named Philipp Ringwald (1499-1557) who was a supporter of Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation. He served as a preacher in Saxony and was instrumental in introducing the Reformation to the region.
During the 17th century, the Ringwald name appeared in various records from the German states of Baden and Württemberg. In 1683, a man named Johann Ringwald was recorded as a landowner in the village of Grunbach, near Heidelberg.
Another notable bearer of the Ringwald name was the 19th-century German painter and lithographer, Johann Baptist Ringwald (1789-1857), who was known for his landscapes and genre scenes.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several Ringwalds emigrated from Germany to the United States, including the ancestors of the American actress, Molly Ringwald (born 1968), who rose to fame in the 1980s for her roles in popular films like "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club."
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ringwald
Among Census respondents with the surname Ringwald, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Ringwald 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 Ringwald surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.7% · 697
- Two or more races2.7% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 5
- Black or African American0.5% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ringwald
Ringwald 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
#30,509
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 765
-3 bearers (-0.4%)
Per 100,000 0.26
Rank movement Down 1,440 places
2020
#32,724
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 752
-13 bearers (-1.7%)
Per 100,000 0.25
Rank movement Down 2,215 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #29,069 | 768 | 0.28 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #30,509 | 765 | 0.26 | -3 bearers (-0.4%) | Down 1,440 places |
| 2020 | #32,724 | 752 | 0.25 | -13 bearers (-1.7%) | Down 2,215 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 Ringwald 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 | #30,509 | #32,724 | -7.3% |
| Count | 765 | 752 | -1.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.26 | 0.25 | -3.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ringwald bearers went from 765 to 752 (-1.7% change). The surname moved down 2,215 positions in the national ranking, going from #30,509 to #32,724.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Ringwald
FAQ
Ringwald surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ringwald?
Name Census estimates that about 862 living Americans carry the surname Ringwald. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 397,627 residents.
How common is Ringwald?
Ringwald ranks #32,724 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.25 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 752 people with the surname Ringwald. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (862), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.25 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.25 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 Ringwald.
Has Ringwald become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ringwald went from 765 recorded bearers to 752. That is a decrease of 13 (-1.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #30,509 to #32,724.
What does the Census say about the background of Ringwald?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ringwald, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Ringwald in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.7% (697 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ringwald appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.7%), Two or More Races (2.7%), Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Ringwald (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 Ringwald mean?
An occupational German surname indicating someone who lived near a circular rampart or fortification. 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 Ringwald (0.25 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 have the surname Ringwald?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.