2010
#151,532
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Scholtus
An occupational surname derived from the German word "scholtheisze", meaning the village mayor or bailiff.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 109 Americans carry the last name Scholtus. That puts it at #156,592 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,144,535 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Scholtus 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
109
1 in 3,144,535
Census rank
#156,592
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
95
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 95 bearers of the surname Scholtus in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 156592nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Scholtus, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Scholtus
The surname SCHOLTUS has its origins in the Netherlands and Belgium, originating in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is derived from the Dutch word "scholte," which means a local magistrate or village leader. This suggests that the earliest bearers of the name held positions of authority within their communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the SCHOLTUS name can be found in the archives of the city of Rotterdam, where a man named Pieter SCHOLTUS is listed as a merchant in the year 1612. Similarly, in the records of the city of Amsterdam, a man named Jan SCHOLTUS is mentioned as a civic official in the year 1638.
The SCHOLTUS name has also been linked to various place names in the Low Countries, such as the town of Scholtens in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. It is possible that the name originated as a locative surname, referring to individuals who hailed from these areas.
A notable historical figure bearing the SCHOLTUS name was Adriaen SCHOLTUS (1598-1672), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his portraits and genre scenes. Another prominent individual was Jacobus SCHOLTUS (1635-1701), a Dutch theologian and professor at the University of Leiden.
In the 18th century, the SCHOLTUS name appears in the records of the Dutch East India Company, with several individuals serving as merchants and administrators in the company's territories in Asia. One such person was Dirk SCHOLTUS (1723-1788), who served as the Governor of Ambon, a Dutch colony in the Maluku Islands, from 1768 to 1778.
Another significant figure was Johan Frederik SCHOLTUS (1803-1868), a Dutch journalist and writer who was a prominent advocate for the abolition of slavery in the Dutch East Indies. He published several influential works on the subject, including "De Negerslaven in de Kolonie Suriname" (The Negro Slaves in the Colony of Suriname) in 1854.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the SCHOLTUS name continued to be found throughout the Netherlands and Belgium, with individuals working in various professions, including law, education, and the arts.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Scholtus
Among Census respondents with the surname Scholtus, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Scholtus 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 Scholtus surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 95
Timeline
Historical Census data for Scholtus
Scholtus appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#156,592
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 95
-13 bearers (-12.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 5,060 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #151,532 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #156,592 | 95 | 0.03 | -13 bearers (-12.0%) | Down 5,060 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 Scholtus 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 | #151,532 | #156,592 | -3.3% |
| Count | 108 | 95 | -12.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -20.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Scholtus bearers went from 108 to 95 (-12.0% change). The surname moved down 5,060 positions in the national ranking, going from #151,532 to #156,592.
FAQ
Scholtus surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Scholtus?
Name Census estimates that about 109 living Americans carry the surname Scholtus. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,144,535 residents.
How common is Scholtus?
Scholtus ranks #156,592 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 95 people with the surname Scholtus. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (109), 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 Scholtus.
Has Scholtus become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Scholtus went from 108 recorded bearers to 95. That is a decrease of 13 (-12.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #151,532 to #156,592.
What does the Census say about the background of Scholtus?
Among Census respondents with the surname Scholtus, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%. 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 Scholtus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (95 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Scholtus appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (100.0%). 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 Scholtus (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 Scholtus mean?
An occupational surname derived from the German word "scholtheisze", meaning the village mayor or bailiff. 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 Scholtus (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 many people are called Scholtus?
Find out how many people have the last name Scholtus on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.