2000
#118,236
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 136
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Rubinger
A surname likely of German or Yiddish origin, potentially derived from a location name or occupational term related to red or reddish hues.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 131 Americans carry the last name Rubinger. That puts it at #146,495 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,616,445 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Rubinger 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
131
1 in 2,616,445
Census rank
#146,495
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
114
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 114 bearers of the surname Rubinger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 146495th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Rubinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Rubinger
The surname RUBINGER is believed to have originated in Germany and can be traced back to the 16th century. It is thought to derive from the German word "rubin," meaning ruby, which suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who worked with rubies or had a connection to the gemstone trade.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname RUBINGER can be found in a document from the Duchy of Saxony, dated 1587, which mentions a merchant named Hans Rubinger. This suggests that the name was already established in that region by the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, the name appears in various records across Germany, including church registers and tax rolls. One notable entry is from the town of Annaberg in Saxony, where a Johannes Rubinger is listed as a master goldsmith in 1643.
The RUBINGER name also has a connection to the city of Hamburg, where it is recorded that a family by that name settled in the late 17th century. A merchant named Wilhelm Rubinger, born in 1671, is cited as one of the earliest members of this Hamburg lineage.
As the name spread across Europe, variations in spelling emerged, such as Rubinger, Rübinger, and Ruebinger. In the 18th century, a notable figure bearing this surname was Johann Gottfried Rubinger, a German theologian and philosopher who lived from 1727 to 1798.
Another prominent individual was Carl Rubinger, a German-born artist and lithographer active in the United States during the 19th century. He was born in 1807 and is known for his landscape paintings and illustrations of the American West.
In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the RUBINGER surname was Hans-Joachim Rubinger, a German actor and film director who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was born in 1908 and passed away in 1988.
While the RUBINGER name is most commonly associated with Germany, it has also been found in other parts of Europe, including Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, likely due to migration and trade connections.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rubinger
Among Census respondents with the surname Rubinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Rubinger 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 Rubinger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.6% · 109
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Rubinger
Rubinger 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
#139,228
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
-16 bearers (-11.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 20,992 places
2020
#146,495
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-6 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,267 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #118,236 | 136 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #139,228 | 120 | 0.04 | -16 bearers (-11.8%) | Down 20,992 places |
| 2020 | #146,495 | 114 | 0.04 | -6 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 7,267 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 Rubinger 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 | #139,228 | #146,495 | -5.2% |
| Count | 120 | 114 | -5.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -4.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Rubinger bearers went from 120 to 114 (-5.0% change). The surname moved down 7,267 positions in the national ranking, going from #139,228 to #146,495.
FAQ
Rubinger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Rubinger?
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the surname Rubinger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,616,445 residents.
How common is Rubinger?
Rubinger ranks #146,495 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 114 people with the surname Rubinger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (131), 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 Rubinger.
Has Rubinger become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Rubinger went from 120 recorded bearers to 114. That is a decrease of 6 (-5.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #139,228 to #146,495.
What does the Census say about the background of Rubinger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Rubinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%). 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 Rubinger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.6% (109 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Rubinger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.6%), Hispanic (2.6%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.8%). 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 Rubinger (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 Rubinger mean?
A surname likely of German or Yiddish origin, potentially derived from a location name or occupational term related to red or reddish hues. 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 Rubinger (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 have the surname Rubinger?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.