2000
#15,093
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,793
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.66
Rare Last name
Ruffing
A German occupational surname referring to a person who made or sold a coarse woolen cloth.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,053 Americans carry the last name Ruffing. That puts it at #15,710 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.60 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 166,953 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ruffing 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
2.1K
1 in 166,953
Census rank
#15,710
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,790 bearers of the surname Ruffing in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.60 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15710th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ruffing, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Ruffing
The surname Ruffing has its origins in Germany, dating back to the 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Low German word "rüffen," which means "to pluck" or "to pull." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to an occupation or trade, such as a weaver or a wool-puller.
Ruffing is a variant spelling of the German surname "Rüffing" or "Rüffinger." These names were commonly found in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, particularly in the areas around the cities of Nuremberg and Dresden.
One of the earliest documented references to the name Ruffing can be found in the Nuremberg city records from the year 1389, where a person named "Hanns Ruffinger" is mentioned. This provides evidence of the name's existence in the late medieval period.
In the 16th century, the name Ruffing appears in several historical documents, such as the parish records of St. Sebald's Church in Nuremberg, where a "Hans Ruffing" is recorded as a resident in 1523.
The earliest known bearer of the Ruffing name was Johannes Ruffing, a German clergyman born in Nuremberg in 1455. He served as a priest in the nearby town of Fürth and is notable for his writings on religious matters.
Another prominent figure with the surname Ruffing was Bernhard Ruffing, a German artist and engraver who lived from 1673 to 1738. He was renowned for his intricate copper engravings, which depicted scenes from classical mythology and biblical stories.
In the 19th century, Friedrich Ruffing (1806-1879) was a notable German architect who designed several churches and public buildings in the Bavarian cities of Munich and Augsburg.
The name Ruffing has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Ruffingen (a town in Baden-Württemberg) and Rüfingen (a village in Bavaria). These place names likely share a common etymological root with the surname.
Finally, a notable bearer of the Ruffing name in more recent times was Charles Ruffing (1905-1986), an American professional baseball player who pitched for the New York Yankees and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ruffing
Among Census respondents with the surname Ruffing, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Ruffing 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 Ruffing surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 1,664
- Two or more races3.0% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 15
- Black or African American0.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ruffing
Ruffing 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
#12,649
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,446
+653 bearers (+36.4%)
Per 100,000 0.83
Rank movement Up 2,444 places
2020
#15,710
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,790
-656 bearers (-26.8%)
Per 100,000 0.60
Rank movement Down 3,061 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #15,093 | 1,793 | 0.66 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,649 | 2,446 | 0.83 | +653 bearers (+36.4%) | Up 2,444 places |
| 2020 | #15,710 | 1,790 | 0.60 | -656 bearers (-26.8%) | Down 3,061 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 Ruffing 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 | #12,649 | #15,710 | -24.2% |
| Count | 2,446 | 1,790 | -26.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.83 | 0.60 | -27.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ruffing bearers went from 2,446 to 1,790 (-26.8% change). The surname moved down 3,061 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,649 to #15,710.
FAQ
Ruffing surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ruffing?
Name Census estimates that about 2,053 living Americans carry the surname Ruffing. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 166,953 residents.
How common is Ruffing?
Ruffing ranks #15,710 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.60 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,790 people with the surname Ruffing. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,053), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.6 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.60 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Ruffing.
Has Ruffing become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ruffing went from 2,446 recorded bearers to 1,790. That is a decrease of 656 (-26.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,649 to #15,710.
What does the Census say about the background of Ruffing?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ruffing, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) 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 Ruffing in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (1,664 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ruffing appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Two or More Races (3.0%), 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 Ruffing (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 Ruffing mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a person who made or sold a coarse woolen cloth. 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 Ruffing (0.60 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 last name Ruffing?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Ruffing at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.