2000
#118,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 135
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Schneeweiss
A German surname meaning "snow white" or "as white as snow".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Schneeweiss. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Schneeweiss 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Schneeweiss in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Schneeweiss, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Schneeweiss
The surname Schneeweiss is of German origin, derived from the words "schnee" meaning snow and "weiss" meaning white. It is thought to have originated in the late Middle Ages or early Renaissance period, likely as a descriptive nickname for someone with very pale skin or white hair.
One of the earliest known records of the surname Schneeweiss dates back to the early 16th century, appearing in a village registry in the region of Bavaria. The spelling at that time varied slightly, with examples like "Schneweis" and "Schneweiss" also being documented.
By the 17th century, the name had spread to other parts of Germany and neighboring regions. It can be found in church records and tax rolls from cities like Frankfurt, Leipzig, and Nuremberg during this period. A notable early bearer of the name was Johannes Schneeweiss, a master woodcarver born in Augsburg in 1633.
The surname Schneeweiss is closely tied to certain geographic locations, particularly in southern Germany and Austria. There are villages and small towns with names like Schneeweis and Schneeweissbach, which may have influenced the surname's development in those areas.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, several Schneeweiss families emigrated from German-speaking regions of Europe to other parts of the world, including North America, South Africa, and Australia. One prominent individual of this era was Friedrich Schneeweiss, a German-born botanist and naturalist who lived from 1809 to 1878 and made significant contributions to the study of plant life in southern Africa.
Other notable bearers of the Schneeweiss surname include Karl Schneeweiss, an Austrian painter and illustrator born in 1875, and Hans Schneeweiss, a German-American architect and designer active in the early 20th century. More recently, there was Grete Schneeweiss, an Austrian resistance fighter during World War II who was executed by the Nazis in 1944 for her anti-fascist activities.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Schneeweiss
Among Census respondents with the surname Schneeweiss, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Schneeweiss 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 Schneeweiss surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.6% · 106
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 3
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Schneeweiss
Schneeweiss 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
#134,712
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 125
-10 bearers (-7.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 15,758 places
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
-13 bearers (-10.4%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 13,242 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #118,954 | 135 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #134,712 | 125 | 0.04 | -10 bearers (-7.4%) | Down 15,758 places |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | -13 bearers (-10.4%) | Down 13,242 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 Schneeweiss 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 | #134,712 | #147,954 | -9.8% |
| Count | 125 | 112 | -10.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Schneeweiss bearers went from 125 to 112 (-10.4% change). The surname moved down 13,242 positions in the national ranking, going from #134,712 to #147,954.
FAQ
Schneeweiss surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Schneeweiss?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Schneeweiss. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Schneeweiss?
Schneeweiss ranks #147,954 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 112 people with the surname Schneeweiss. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), 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 Schneeweiss.
Has Schneeweiss become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Schneeweiss went from 125 recorded bearers to 112. That is a decrease of 13 (-10.4%). In the national ranking it fell from #134,712 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Schneeweiss?
Among Census respondents with the surname Schneeweiss, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Schneeweiss in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.6% (106 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Schneeweiss appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.6%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%), Black (0.9%). 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 Schneeweiss (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 Schneeweiss mean?
A German surname meaning "snow white" or "as white as snow". 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 Schneeweiss (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 Schneeweiss?
Want to know how common the surname Schneeweiss is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.