2000
#11,964
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,395
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.89
Rare Last name
Sunderman
A surname of German origin referring to a person from the south or from southern Germany.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,102 Americans carry the last name Sunderman. That puts it at #15,406 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.61 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 163,061 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sunderman 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 163,061
Census rank
#15,406
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,833 bearers of the surname Sunderman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.61 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15406th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sunderman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sunderman
The surname SUNDERMAN is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have originated in the region of Westphalia, which was part of the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th century. The name is derived from the Old German words "sunne" meaning "sun" and "man" meaning "man" or "person," suggesting that it was originally an occupational name for someone who worked in a sunny or well-lit environment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Werdener Urkundenbuch, a collection of documents from the Cistercian monastery in Werden, Essen, dating back to the year 1225. The name appears as "Sunnerman," referring to a landowner or tenant in the area.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name SUNDERMAN began to spread throughout other parts of Germany, particularly in the regions of Saxony and Brandenburg. In the town of Quedlinburg, located in present-day Saxony-Anhalt, records from the 1580s mention a certain Johann SUNDERMAN, a respected merchant and landowner.
As the name gained prominence, it also appeared in various historical documents and manuscripts. One notable example is the Nuremberg Chronicle, a famous illustrated world history book published in 1493, which includes a reference to a "Heinrich SUNDERMAN" among the list of notable citizens of the city of Nuremberg.
In the 18th century, the SUNDERMAN name found its way to the United States, with some of the earliest recorded settlers bearing this surname arriving in Pennsylvania in the 1740s. One of the most prominent figures with this name was John SUNDERMAN (1718-1789), a German immigrant who became a successful farmer and landowner in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
Other notable individuals with the SUNDERMAN surname include:
1. Friedrich SUNDERMAN (1810-1892), a German mathematician and astronomer, known for his contributions to the study of celestial mechanics.
2. Maximilian SUNDERMAN (1871-1942), a German-American businessman and philanthropist, who founded the SUNDERMAN Corporation, a successful manufacturing company in Pennsylvania.
3. Dorothy SUNDERMAN (1901-1989), an American philanthropist and patron of the arts, known for her support of various cultural institutions in Pennsylvania and Washington D.C.
4. Johann SUNDERMAN (1580-1648), a German composer and organist, who served as the Kapellmeister at the court of Saxe-Weimar during the early 17th century.
5. Wilhelm SUNDERMAN (1832-1903), a German-American civil engineer and architect, who designed several notable buildings in Philadelphia, including the Academy of Music and the Masonic Temple.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sunderman
Among Census respondents with the surname Sunderman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Sunderman 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 Sunderman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.6% · 1,697
- Two or more races3.4% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 14
- Black or African American0.4% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sunderman
Sunderman 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
#11,759
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,664
+269 bearers (+11.2%)
Per 100,000 0.90
Rank movement Up 205 places
2020
#15,406
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,833
-831 bearers (-31.2%)
Per 100,000 0.61
Rank movement Down 3,647 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,964 | 2,395 | 0.89 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,759 | 2,664 | 0.90 | +269 bearers (+11.2%) | Up 205 places |
| 2020 | #15,406 | 1,833 | 0.61 | -831 bearers (-31.2%) | Down 3,647 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 Sunderman 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 | #11,759 | #15,406 | -31.0% |
| Count | 2,664 | 1,833 | -31.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.90 | 0.61 | -31.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sunderman bearers went from 2,664 to 1,833 (-31.2% change). The surname moved down 3,647 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,759 to #15,406.
FAQ
Sunderman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sunderman?
Name Census estimates that about 2,102 living Americans carry the surname Sunderman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 163,061 residents.
How common is Sunderman?
Sunderman ranks #15,406 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 1,833 people with the surname Sunderman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,102), 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 Sunderman.
Has Sunderman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sunderman went from 2,664 recorded bearers to 1,833. That is a decrease of 831 (-31.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,759 to #15,406.
What does the Census say about the background of Sunderman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sunderman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.4%) 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 Sunderman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.6% (1,697 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sunderman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.6%), Two or More Races (3.4%), 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 Sunderman (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 Sunderman mean?
A surname of German origin referring to a person from the south or from southern Germany. 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 Sunderman (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 are called Sunderman?
Want to know how common the surname Sunderman is? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.