2000
#41,060
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 501
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.19
Very Rare Last name
Sebald
A surname of German origin meaning "victorious ruler" or "powerful leader".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 542 Americans carry the last name Sebald. That puts it at #48,236 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.16 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 632,388 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sebald 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
542
1 in 632,388
Census rank
#48,236
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
473
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 473 bearers of the surname Sebald in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.16 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 48236th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sebald, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sebald
The surname SEBALD is of German origin, arising in the late medieval period. It is derived from the Germanic personal name Seibold, which is a compound of the elements "sigi" meaning victory and "bald" meaning bold or brave. The earliest recorded spelling variants include Seybold, Seibold, and Sebolde.
This name first appeared in historical records in the 13th century in the southern German regions of Bavaria and Swabia. One of the earliest known bearers was Seiboldus de Kurenbach, a Bavarian knight mentioned in a 1283 charter. The SEBALD name also appeared in the 14th century tax rolls of the town of Nürnberg.
In 1347, a Seibold von Reichenau is recorded as a wealthy landowner in the Duchy of Bavaria. The Reichenau was a prominent noble family with estates near the town of Rosenheim. This indicates the SEBALD name had spread among the nobility by the 14th century.
Over time, the spelling gradually evolved to the modern SEBALD form commonly seen today. A notable early bearer was Johann Sebald Beham (c.1500-1550), a German painter and printmaker from Nuremberg. His works are housed in museums across Europe.
Another distinguished SEBALD was Johann Philipp Sebald (1619-1671), a German composer and organist who served at the court of King Frederick III of Denmark. His sacred music compositions were widely performed in northern German churches.
In the 18th century, Johann Sebald Stryk (1759-1835) was a prominent jurist and professor of law at the University of Königsberg. His legal writings influenced the development of Prussian civil law codes.
The SEBALD surname also crossed the Atlantic, with Johann Michael Sebald (1712-1773) emigrating from Germany to Pennsylvania in the 1730s. He was among the first settlers of the town of Germantown near Philadelphia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sebald
Among Census respondents with the surname Sebald, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Sebald 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 Sebald surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.4% · 442
- Two or more races3.2% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 5
- Black or African American0.2% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sebald
Sebald 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
#45,026
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 476
-25 bearers (-5.0%)
Per 100,000 0.16
Rank movement Down 3,966 places
2020
#48,236
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 473
-3 bearers (-0.6%)
Per 100,000 0.16
Rank movement Down 3,210 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #41,060 | 501 | 0.19 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #45,026 | 476 | 0.16 | -25 bearers (-5.0%) | Down 3,966 places |
| 2020 | #48,236 | 473 | 0.16 | -3 bearers (-0.6%) | Down 3,210 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 Sebald 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 | #45,026 | #48,236 | -7.1% |
| Count | 476 | 473 | -0.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.16 | 0.16 | -1.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sebald bearers went from 476 to 473 (-0.6% change). The surname moved down 3,210 positions in the national ranking, going from #45,026 to #48,236.
FAQ
Sebald surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sebald?
Name Census estimates that about 542 living Americans carry the surname Sebald. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 632,388 residents.
How common is Sebald?
Sebald ranks #48,236 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.16 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 473 people with the surname Sebald. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (542), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.16 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.16 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 Sebald.
Has Sebald become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sebald went from 476 recorded bearers to 473. That is a decrease of 3 (-0.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #45,026 to #48,236.
What does the Census say about the background of Sebald?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sebald, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Sebald in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (442 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sebald appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.4%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Sebald (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 Sebald mean?
A surname of German origin meaning "victorious ruler" or "powerful leader". 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 Sebald (0.16 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 Sebald?
Find out how common the surname Sebald is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.