2010
#156,044
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Theilmann
A German surname derived from a place name and indicating where a person once lived.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 126 Americans carry the last name Theilmann. That puts it at #149,446 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,720,273 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Theilmann 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
126
1 in 2,720,273
Census rank
#149,446
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
110
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 110 bearers of the surname Theilmann in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 149446th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Theilmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Theilmann
The surname Theilmann is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated in the region of Saxony, where it was likely derived from a combination of the German words "teil" meaning "part" and "mann" meaning "man." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who worked as a land surveyor or divider of property.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the town records of Grimma, Saxony, where a certain Hans Theilmann is mentioned as a landowner in the year 1587. Another early reference comes from the church records of Döbeln, also in Saxony, where a Johann Theilmann is listed as having been born in 1612.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Theilmann name appears to have spread across various parts of Germany. In 1678, a merchant named Heinrich Theilmann is recorded as having established a successful business in the city of Hamburg. Meanwhile, in the town of Weimar, Thuringia, a family by the name of Theilmann is mentioned in local documents dating back to the early 1700s.
One notable figure bearing the Theilmann name was Johann Gottfried Theilmann (1730-1802), a Lutheran theologian and philosopher who served as a professor at the University of Wittenberg. His works include several treatises on ethics and moral philosophy.
In the 19th century, the name Theilmann can be found in various parts of Germany, as well as in neighboring regions such as Silesia (now a part of Poland) and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A certain Karl Theilmann (1825-1894) was a prominent industrialist and entrepreneur from Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland), who made his fortune in the textile industry.
Another individual of note was Max Theilmann (1846-1919), a German architect and urban planner who was responsible for designing several iconic buildings in the city of Berlin, including the Anhalter Bahnhof railway station.
As the 20th century dawned, the Theilmann name continued to be well-represented across various fields. One such individual was Ernst Theilmann (1891-1935), a German trade unionist and communist politician who played a prominent role in the resistance against the Nazi regime.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Theilmann
Among Census respondents with the surname Theilmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Theilmann 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 Theilmann surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.4% · 106
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Theilmann
Theilmann appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#149,446
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 110
+6 bearers (+5.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 6,598 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #156,044 | 104 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #149,446 | 110 | 0.04 | +6 bearers (+5.8%) | Up 6,598 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 Theilmann 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 | #156,044 | #149,446 | 4.2% |
| Count | 104 | 110 | 5.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -8.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Theilmann bearers went from 104 to 110 (+5.8% change). The surname moved up 6,598 positions in the national ranking, going from #156,044 to #149,446.
FAQ
Theilmann surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Theilmann?
Name Census estimates that about 126 living Americans carry the surname Theilmann. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,720,273 residents.
How common is Theilmann?
Theilmann ranks #149,446 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 110 people with the surname Theilmann. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (126), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Theilmann.
Has Theilmann become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Theilmann went from 104 recorded bearers to 110. That is an increase of 6 (+5.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #156,044 to #149,446.
What does the Census say about the background of Theilmann?
Among Census respondents with the surname Theilmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Theilmann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (106 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Theilmann appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.4%), Hispanic (2.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Theilmann (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 Theilmann mean?
A German surname derived from a place name and indicating where a person once lived. 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 Theilmann (0.04 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 share the surname Theilmann?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.