2000
#10,606
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,773
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.03
Rare Last name
Schoonmaker
A Dutch occupational surname referring to a cleaner, sweeper, or someone who tidies up.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,006 Americans carry the last name Schoonmaker. That puts it at #11,489 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.88 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 114,023 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Schoonmaker 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
3.0K
1 in 114,023
Census rank
#11,489
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,621 bearers of the surname Schoonmaker in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.88 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 11489th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Schoonmaker, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Schoonmaker
The surname SCHOONMAKER originated in the Netherlands during the 16th century. It is derived from the Dutch words "schoon" meaning clean or pure, and "maker" meaning maker or creator. Initially, the name referred to a maker or manufacturer of cleaning products, such as soap or detergents.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the SCHOONMAKER name dates back to 1602, when a Hendrick Jansen Schoonmaker was mentioned in a church record in the town of Leiden, Netherlands. The name also appeared in various legal documents and property records in the Dutch provinces of South Holland and Utrecht during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The SCHOONMAKER name gained prominence in the New World when several members of the family emigrated from the Netherlands to the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which later became New York. One of the first recorded SCHOONMAKERs in America was Jacobus Schoonmaker, who arrived in the 1650s and settled in the area now known as Kingston, New York.
Over the centuries, the SCHOONMAKER name has evolved with various spelling variations, including Schoonmaker, Schunmaker, Schoenmaker, and Shoemaker. Some notable individuals with the SCHOONMAKER surname include:
1. Marius Schoonmaker (1807-1884), a Dutch-American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York.
2. Walter Schoonmaker (1852-1919), an American businessman and industrialist who co-founded the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.
3. Cornelius Schoonmaker (1859-1937), a Dutch-American lawyer and judge who served as a justice of the New York Supreme Court.
4. Eugene Schoonmaker (1870-1942), an American architect known for designing several prominent buildings in New York City, including the Hotel Pennsylvania.
5. Jacobus Schoonmaker (1636-1699), one of the earliest recorded SCHOONMAKERs in America and a prominent figure in the Dutch settlement of Kingston, New York.
The SCHOONMAKER name has also been associated with several notable place names, particularly in the Hudson Valley region of New York, where many early Dutch settlers established themselves. For example, there is a hamlet called Schoonmaker Lane located in the town of Saugerties, New York, which is believed to have been named after one of the early SCHOONMAKER families in the area.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Schoonmaker
Among Census respondents with the surname Schoonmaker, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Schoonmaker 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 Schoonmaker surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.1% · 2,389
- Two or more races3.1% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 77
- Black or African American2.0% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Schoonmaker
Schoonmaker 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
#11,395
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,767
-6 bearers (-0.2%)
Per 100,000 0.94
Rank movement Down 789 places
2020
#11,489
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,621
-146 bearers (-5.3%)
Per 100,000 0.88
Rank movement Down 94 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,606 | 2,773 | 1.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,395 | 2,767 | 0.94 | -6 bearers (-0.2%) | Down 789 places |
| 2020 | #11,489 | 2,621 | 0.88 | -146 bearers (-5.3%) | Down 94 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 Schoonmaker 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 | #11,395 | #11,489 | -0.8% |
| Count | 2,767 | 2,621 | -5.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.94 | 0.88 | -6.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Schoonmaker bearers went from 2,767 to 2,621 (-5.3% change). The surname moved down 94 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,395 to #11,489.
FAQ
Schoonmaker surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Schoonmaker?
Name Census estimates that about 3,006 living Americans carry the surname Schoonmaker. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 114,023 residents.
How common is Schoonmaker?
Schoonmaker ranks #11,489 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.88 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 2,621 people with the surname Schoonmaker. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,006), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.88 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.88 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 Schoonmaker.
Has Schoonmaker become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Schoonmaker went from 2,767 recorded bearers to 2,621. That is a decrease of 146 (-5.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,395 to #11,489.
What does the Census say about the background of Schoonmaker?
Among Census respondents with the surname Schoonmaker, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (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 Schoonmaker in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (2,389 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Schoonmaker appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.1%), Two or More Races (3.1%), Hispanic (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 Schoonmaker (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 Schoonmaker mean?
A Dutch occupational surname referring to a cleaner, sweeper, or someone who tidies up. 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 Schoonmaker (0.88 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 Americans have the surname Schoonmaker?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.