2000
#118,236
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 136
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Trafelet
A surname derived from a place name, potentially a village or town.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Trafelet. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Trafelet 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
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Trafelet in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Trafelet, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%) and Black (0.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Trafelet
The surname Trafelet originated in the region of Alsace, France during the late 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the German word "trafel", which referred to a small stream or brook. This suggests that the name may have initially been a topographic surname, given to someone who lived near a small body of flowing water.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Trafelet can be found in the baptismal records of the village of Obernai, Alsace in 1592. Here, a child named Hans Trafelet was baptized, indicating that the family had already established roots in the region by this time.
In the 17th century, the Trafelet name appears in various legal documents and land records throughout Alsace. Notable bearers of the name during this period include Johann Trafelet (1635-1701), a farmer and landowner in the village of Scherwiller, and his son, Peter Trafelet (1670-1749), who served as a local magistrate.
As the Trafelet family spread beyond Alsace, variations in spelling began to emerge. In the neighboring region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, the name was sometimes rendered as "Träfelet" or "Träfeleth". This was likely due to differences in regional dialects and pronunciation.
One noteworthy individual with the Trafelet surname was Johann Christian Trafelet (1783-1857), a German-born Lutheran minister who emigrated to the United States in the early 19th century. He served as a pastor in various communities in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and his descendants continued to use the Trafelet surname in America.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Émile Trafelet (1855-1928), a French artist and illustrator known for his portrayals of rural life in Alsace. His works were exhibited in various salons and galleries throughout France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the Trafelet surname remains relatively uncommon, it has persisted through the centuries and can still be found in various parts of Europe and America, a testament to its enduring legacy and rich historical roots.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Trafelet
Among Census respondents with the surname Trafelet, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%) and Black (0.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Trafelet 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 Trafelet surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.1% · 112
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 3
- Black or African American0.8% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Trafelet
Trafelet 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
#137,327
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 122
-14 bearers (-10.3%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 19,091 places
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
-3 bearers (-2.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 5,461 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #118,236 | 136 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #137,327 | 122 | 0.04 | -14 bearers (-10.3%) | Down 19,091 places |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | -3 bearers (-2.5%) | Down 5,461 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 Trafelet 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 | #137,327 | #142,788 | -4.0% |
| Count | 122 | 119 | -2.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Trafelet bearers went from 122 to 119 (-2.5% change). The surname moved down 5,461 positions in the national ranking, going from #137,327 to #142,788.
FAQ
Trafelet surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Trafelet?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Trafelet. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Trafelet?
Trafelet ranks #142,788 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 119 people with the surname Trafelet. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), 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 Trafelet.
Has Trafelet become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Trafelet went from 122 recorded bearers to 119. That is a decrease of 3 (-2.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #137,327 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Trafelet?
Among Census respondents with the surname Trafelet, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%) and Black (0.8%). 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 Trafelet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (112 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Trafelet appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.1%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%), Black (0.8%). 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 Trafelet (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 Trafelet mean?
A surname derived from a place name, potentially a village or town. 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 Trafelet (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 have the last name Trafelet?
See how many people have the surname Trafelet on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.