2000
#14,615
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,867
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.69
Rare Last name
Steinert
A German occupational surname referring to a stonecutter or stonemason.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,100 Americans carry the last name Steinert. That puts it at #15,422 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.61 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 163,216 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Steinert 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
2.1K
1 in 163,216
Census rank
#15,422
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,831 bearers of the surname Steinert in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.61 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15422nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Steinert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Steinert
The surname Steinert originated in Germany and can be traced back to the 14th century. It is derived from the German words "stein" meaning "stone" and "ort" meaning "place" or "location". The name likely referred to a person who lived near a prominent stone or rock formation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Steinert dates back to 1387 in the town of Nürnberg, where a Johann Steinert is mentioned in a local registry. The name also appears in various other German records from the 15th and 16th centuries, such as the Weissenburger Codex from 1482 and the Kirchenbücher von Ulm from 1524.
In the 17th century, the name Steinert can be found in various regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg. A notable bearer of the name from this time period was Hans Steinert, a merchant and landowner from Aschaffenburg who was born in 1625 and died in 1698.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, many individuals with the surname Steinert emigrated from Germany to other parts of Europe and the Americas. One such individual was Johann Friedrich Steinert, who was born in Bamberg in 1756 and later settled in Pennsylvania, United States.
Another notable figure with the surname Steinert was the German composer and pianist Ernst von Steinert, who was born in Leipzig in 1810 and died in 1889. He was known for his works in the Romantic style and served as the director of the Leipzig Conservatory for several years.
In the 20th century, one of the most prominent individuals with the surname Steinert was the German neurologist and psychiatrist Hans Steinert. He was born in 1875 and is best known for his research on myotonic dystrophy, a genetic disorder that bears his name (Steinert's disease).
Other notable individuals with the surname Steinert include the German writer and journalist Otto Steinert (1915-1978), the American baseball player and coach Rube Steinert (1892-1967), and the German painter and sculptor Horst Steinert (1904-1997).
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Steinert
Among Census respondents with the surname Steinert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Steinert 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 Steinert surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.4% · 1,692
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 70
- Two or more races2.7% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
- Black or African American0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Steinert
Steinert 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
#15,194
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,939
+72 bearers (+3.9%)
Per 100,000 0.66
Rank movement Down 579 places
2020
#15,422
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,831
-108 bearers (-5.6%)
Per 100,000 0.61
Rank movement Down 228 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,615 | 1,867 | 0.69 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,194 | 1,939 | 0.66 | +72 bearers (+3.9%) | Down 579 places |
| 2020 | #15,422 | 1,831 | 0.61 | -108 bearers (-5.6%) | Down 228 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 Steinert 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 | #15,194 | #15,422 | -1.5% |
| Count | 1,939 | 1,831 | -5.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.66 | 0.61 | -7.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Steinert bearers went from 1,939 to 1,831 (-5.6% change). The surname moved down 228 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,194 to #15,422.
FAQ
Steinert surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Steinert?
Name Census estimates that about 2,100 living Americans carry the surname Steinert. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 163,216 residents.
How common is Steinert?
Steinert ranks #15,422 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.61 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 1,831 people with the surname Steinert. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,100), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.61 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.61 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 Steinert.
Has Steinert become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Steinert went from 1,939 recorded bearers to 1,831. That is a decrease of 108 (-5.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #15,194 to #15,422.
What does the Census say about the background of Steinert?
Among Census respondents with the surname Steinert, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Steinert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (1,692 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Steinert appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.4%), Hispanic (3.8%), Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Steinert (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 Steinert mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a stonecutter or stonemason. 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 Steinert (0.61 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 have the surname Steinert?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.