2000
#7,923
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,874
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.44
Rare Last name
Strouse
A German occupational surname for a maker or seller of leg coverings or gaiters.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,307 Americans carry the last name Strouse. That puts it at #8,442 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.26 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 79,581 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Strouse 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
4.3K
1 in 79,581
Census rank
#8,442
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,756 bearers of the surname Strouse in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.26 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8442nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Strouse, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Strouse
The surname Strouse has its origins in the German language. It is believed to have derived from the Middle High German word "struse," which means "bundle" or "sheaf." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as an occupational surname to someone who worked with bundles or sheaves, perhaps a farmer or a merchant dealing in grain or hay.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Strouse can be traced back to the 16th century in various regions of Germany. It appears in historical records and documents from areas such as Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland. The name was likely carried by individuals who migrated from these regions to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas.
In the Palatinate region of Germany, the name Strouse can be found in records dating back to the 17th century. One notable example is Johann Strouse, born in 1642 in the village of Weingarten, who was a farmer and landowner. His descendants carried the name forward in the region for several generations.
During the 18th century, the name Strouse started appearing in records in other European countries, likely due to migration and the spread of German settlers. For instance, in the Netherlands, there are records of a merchant named Pieter Strouse, born in 1721 in Amsterdam, who traded in textiles and imported goods from Germany.
As German immigrants began to arrive in North America in significant numbers during the 18th and 19th centuries, the Strouse surname found its way to the New World. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of Johann Christoph Strouse, born in 1732 in the Palatinate region, who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the 1750s and settled in the area that would become Berks County.
Other notable individuals bearing the Strouse surname include:
1. Johann Georg Strouse (1715-1789), a German-born farmer and community leader who settled in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the mid-18th century.
2. Frederick Strouse (1808-1875), an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate in the mid-19th century.
3. Adolph Strouse (1852-1923), a German-American businessman and philanthropist from Chicago, who founded the Strouse Corporation, a successful import-export company.
4. Ernst Strouse (1876-1949), a German-born American architect known for his work in the Craftsman and Prairie School styles, particularly in the Midwest.
5. Mildred Strouse (1907-1997), an American writer and historian who authored several books on the history of Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley region.
While the Strouse surname has undergone some variations in spelling over the centuries, such as Strauss, Strausse, and Strous, the core meaning and origin remain rooted in the German language and its connection to the concept of bundles or sheaves.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Strouse
Among Census respondents with the surname Strouse, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Strouse 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 Strouse surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.5% · 3,436
- Two or more races3.5% · 133
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 129
- Black or African American0.7% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 11
Timeline
Historical Census data for Strouse
Strouse 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
#8,350
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,964
+90 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 1.34
Rank movement Down 427 places
2020
#8,442
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,756
-208 bearers (-5.2%)
Per 100,000 1.26
Rank movement Down 92 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,923 | 3,874 | 1.44 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,350 | 3,964 | 1.34 | +90 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 427 places |
| 2020 | #8,442 | 3,756 | 1.26 | -208 bearers (-5.2%) | Down 92 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 Strouse 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 | #8,350 | #8,442 | -1.1% |
| Count | 3,964 | 3,756 | -5.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.34 | 1.26 | -6.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Strouse bearers went from 3,964 to 3,756 (-5.2% change). The surname moved down 92 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,350 to #8,442.
FAQ
Strouse surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Strouse?
Name Census estimates that about 4,307 living Americans carry the surname Strouse. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 79,581 residents.
How common is Strouse?
Strouse ranks #8,442 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.26 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 3,756 people with the surname Strouse. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,307), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.26 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.26 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 Strouse.
Has Strouse become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Strouse went from 3,964 recorded bearers to 3,756. That is a decrease of 208 (-5.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,350 to #8,442.
What does the Census say about the background of Strouse?
Among Census respondents with the surname Strouse, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Strouse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.5% (3,436 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Strouse appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.5%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Strouse (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 Strouse mean?
A German occupational surname for a maker or seller of leg coverings or gaiters. 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 Strouse (1.26 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 Strouse?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Strouse is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.