2000
#139,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Schmerbeck
A German surname derived from the words "Schmer" meaning grease or fat, and "beck" meaning baker or baker.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Schmerbeck. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Schmerbeck 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
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Schmerbeck in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Schmerbeck, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Schmerbeck
The surname Schmerbeck is believed to have originated in Germany during the late Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the German words "schmerb" meaning smoky or smoldering, and "beck" meaning a stream or brook. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a smoky or steamy brook or stream.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Schmerbeck can be found in a land registry from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, dated 1437. This document mentions a "Hans Schmerbeck" who owned a parcel of farmland just outside the town walls.
By the 16th century, variations of the name such as Schmerbecke and Schmerbecken were found in records from various regions of central and southern Germany. A notable early bearer of the name was Johann Schmerbeck, a Lutheran theologian born in Nuremberg in 1535. He authored several influential works on Protestant doctrine during the Reformation era.
The Schmerbeck name appeared to spread across Europe in the following centuries. In 1692, a merchant named Willem Schmerbeck is recorded as having settled in Amsterdam, having emigrated from the Rhineland region of Germany. His descendants went on to establish successful trading businesses in the Dutch city.
In the 19th century, the Schmerbeck surname found its way to North America. One of the earliest known immigrants with this name was Christoph Schmerbeck, who arrived in Philadelphia from Bavaria in 1832. He later moved westward and became a prosperous farmer in the state of Ohio.
Other notable individuals with the Schmerbeck surname include Friedrich Schmerbeck (1837-1917), a German-born military officer who fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War, and Elsa Schmerbeck (1878-1942), an Austrian painter and printmaker celebrated for her exquisite landscape artworks.
While not an extremely common name, the Schmerbeck surname has endured over many centuries, maintaining its roots in the German language and culture. Its origins can be traced back to the rural landscapes of medieval Germany, where it likely first emerged as a descriptive name for someone living near a smoky brook or stream.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Schmerbeck
Among Census respondents with the surname Schmerbeck, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Schmerbeck 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 Schmerbeck surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.1% · 100
- Two or more races2.9% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Schmerbeck
Schmerbeck 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
#143,149
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
+6 bearers (+5.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 3,392 places
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-13 bearers (-11.2%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 11,033 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #139,757 | 110 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #143,149 | 116 | 0.04 | +6 bearers (+5.5%) | Down 3,392 places |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -13 bearers (-11.2%) | Down 11,033 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 Schmerbeck 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 | #143,149 | #154,182 | -7.7% |
| Count | 116 | 103 | -11.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Schmerbeck bearers went from 116 to 103 (-11.2% change). The surname moved down 11,033 positions in the national ranking, going from #143,149 to #154,182.
FAQ
Schmerbeck surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Schmerbeck?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Schmerbeck. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Schmerbeck?
Schmerbeck ranks #154,182 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 103 people with the surname Schmerbeck. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), 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 Schmerbeck.
Has Schmerbeck become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Schmerbeck went from 116 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 13 (-11.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #143,149 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Schmerbeck?
Among Census respondents with the surname Schmerbeck, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Schmerbeck in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.1% (100 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Schmerbeck appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (97.1%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Schmerbeck (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 Schmerbeck mean?
A German surname derived from the words "Schmer" meaning grease or fat, and "beck" meaning baker or baker. 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 Schmerbeck (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 common is the surname Schmerbeck?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Schmerbeck is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.