2000
#109,915
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 149
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.06
Very Rare Last name
Rollow
A topographic surname derived from a Middle English term referring to someone living near a small stream or hollow.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 139 Americans carry the last name Rollow. That puts it at #141,309 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,465,859 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rollow 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
139
1 in 2,465,859
Census rank
#141,309
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
121
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 121 bearers of the surname Rollow in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 141309th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rollow, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rollow
The surname Rollow is believed to have originated in the Netherlands during the late 16th century. It is derived from the Dutch word "rol," meaning "roll," and may have been an occupational surname for someone who worked with rolling or making rolls of fabric or other materials. Alternatively, it could have been a locational surname referring to someone who lived near a rolling hill or a place with a similar-sounding name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Rollow can be found in the Dutch province of Friesland, where a Pieter Rollow was mentioned in a church record from the village of Workum in 1612. The name also appeared in various legal documents and property records throughout the 17th and 18th centuries in the Netherlands, particularly in the provinces of Friesland and Groningen.
In the late 17th century, a notable figure named Gerrit Rollow (1652-1731) was a successful merchant and ship owner from the city of Harlingen in Friesland. He played a significant role in the Dutch East India Company's trade operations in the East Indies and was known for his extensive business dealings in the region.
Another individual with the surname Rollow was Johann Rollow (1718-1795), a German-born mathematician and astronomer who worked as a professor at the University of Jena in Germany. He made contributions to the field of celestial mechanics and published several treatises on mathematical subjects during his lifetime.
In the 19th century, a Dutch artist named Dirk Rollow (1823-1891) gained recognition for his landscape paintings, which often depicted scenes from the countryside and coastal areas of the Netherlands. His works are now held in various art museums and private collections across Europe.
Across the Atlantic, one of the earliest recorded instances of the Rollow surname in North America can be traced back to Johannes Rollow, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the early 18th century. He and his family were among the first Rollow families to establish roots in the United States.
While the surname Rollow is not extremely common, it has a rich history and has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions over the centuries, from merchants and academics to artists and pioneers in new lands.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rollow
Among Census respondents with the surname Rollow, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Rollow 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 Rollow surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.3% · 119
- Two or more races1.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rollow
Rollow 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
#124,548
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 138
-11 bearers (-7.4%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 14,633 places
2020
#141,309
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
-17 bearers (-12.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,761 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #109,915 | 149 | 0.06 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #124,548 | 138 | 0.05 | -11 bearers (-7.4%) | Down 14,633 places |
| 2020 | #141,309 | 121 | 0.04 | -17 bearers (-12.3%) | Down 16,761 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 Rollow 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 | #124,548 | #141,309 | -13.5% |
| Count | 138 | 121 | -12.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.05 | 0.04 | -19.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rollow bearers went from 138 to 121 (-12.3% change). The surname moved down 16,761 positions in the national ranking, going from #124,548 to #141,309.
FAQ
Rollow surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rollow?
Name Census estimates that about 139 living Americans carry the surname Rollow. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,465,859 residents.
How common is Rollow?
Rollow ranks #141,309 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 121 people with the surname Rollow. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (139), 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 Rollow.
Has Rollow become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rollow went from 138 recorded bearers to 121. That is a decrease of 17 (-12.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #124,548 to #141,309.
What does the Census say about the background of Rollow?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rollow, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Rollow in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.3% (119 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rollow appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.3%), Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Rollow (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 Rollow mean?
A topographic surname derived from a Middle English term referring to someone living near a small stream or hollow. 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 Rollow (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 are called Rollow?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Rollow, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.