2000
#13,665
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,036
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.75
Rare Last name
Tobler
A Swiss German occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of tallow candles.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,514 Americans carry the last name Tobler. That puts it at #13,317 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.73 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 136,338 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Tobler 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
2.5K
1 in 136,338
Census rank
#13,317
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,192 bearers of the surname Tobler in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.73 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13317th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Tobler, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (4.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Tobler
The surname Tobler is of German origin, with its roots tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German word "Tobel," which means a small, narrow valley or ravine. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the regions of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria in southern Germany.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Johannes Tobler, a farmer who lived in the village of Oberstenfeld, near Stuttgart, in the late 15th century. Records from that time show that the name was also spelled as "Tobler" and "Tobeler."
In the 16th century, the name began to spread beyond southern Germany. In 1568, a man named Hans Tobler was listed in the records of the city of Zürich, Switzerland, suggesting that the name had made its way across the border.
The name Tobler is also found in historical documents related to the Swiss Reformation. In 1524, a Johannes Tobler was among the delegates from the city of Bern who attended a religious disputation in Zürich, which played a significant role in the spread of Protestantism in Switzerland.
Over the centuries, the Tobler name has been associated with various notable individuals. In the 18th century, Johann Georg Tobler (1703-1765) was a renowned Swiss geographer and cartographer who produced detailed maps of Switzerland and neighboring regions.
Another notable bearer of the name was Titus Tobler (1806-1877), a Swiss writer and scholar who is best known for his travels and research in the Holy Land. His work, "Topographie von Jerusalem und seinen Umgebungen" (Topography of Jerusalem and its Surroundings), published in 1853, was a significant contribution to the study of the geography and archaeology of the region.
In the field of literature, Adolf Tobler (1835-1910) was a Swiss philologist and linguist who made important contributions to the study of Romance languages, particularly French and Provençal.
Moving into the 20th century, Arnold Tobler (1892-1984) was a Swiss architect and urban planner who played a vital role in the development of modern architecture in Switzerland, with his designs for housing projects and public buildings.
Lastly, Titus Tobler (1806-1877), mentioned earlier, had a son named Ferdinand Tobler (1837-1897), who followed in his father's footsteps as a traveler and writer, publishing several books about his journeys in the Middle East and North Africa.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tobler
Among Census respondents with the surname Tobler, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (4.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Tobler 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 Tobler surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.0% · 1,557
- Black or African American19.8% · 433
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 93
- Two or more races4.2% · 91
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Tobler
Tobler 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
#12,440
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,497
+461 bearers (+22.6%)
Per 100,000 0.85
Rank movement Up 1,225 places
2020
#13,317
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,192
-305 bearers (-12.2%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Down 877 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,665 | 2,036 | 0.75 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,440 | 2,497 | 0.85 | +461 bearers (+22.6%) | Up 1,225 places |
| 2020 | #13,317 | 2,192 | 0.73 | -305 bearers (-12.2%) | Down 877 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 Tobler 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 | #12,440 | #13,317 | -7.0% |
| Count | 2,497 | 2,192 | -12.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.85 | 0.73 | -13.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Tobler bearers went from 2,497 to 2,192 (-12.2% change). The surname moved down 877 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,440 to #13,317.
FAQ
Tobler surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Tobler?
Name Census estimates that about 2,514 living Americans carry the surname Tobler. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 136,338 residents.
How common is Tobler?
Tobler ranks #13,317 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.73 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 2,192 people with the surname Tobler. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,514), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.73 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.73 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 Tobler.
Has Tobler become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Tobler went from 2,497 recorded bearers to 2,192. That is a decrease of 305 (-12.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,440 to #13,317.
What does the Census say about the background of Tobler?
Among Census respondents with the surname Tobler, the largest self-reported group is White at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Tobler in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.0% (1,557 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Tobler appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (71.0%), Black (19.8%), Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Tobler (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 Tobler mean?
A Swiss German occupational surname referring to a maker or seller of tallow candles. 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 Tobler (0.73 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 Americans have the surname Tobler?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.