2000
#25,374
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 916
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.34
Rare Last name
Ullmann
A Germanic surname derived from a nickname meaning "little wolf".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,211 Americans carry the last name Ullmann. That puts it at #24,658 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.35 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 283,034 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Ullmann 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
1.2K
1 in 283,034
Census rank
#24,658
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,056 bearers of the surname Ullmann in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.35 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 24658th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Ullmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Ullmann
The surname Ullmann has its origins in Germany, traceable as far back as the 13th century. It is derived from the old Germanic words "ulle" meaning wool or woolen cloth, and "mann" meaning man, suggesting the name may have originally referred to a wool merchant or someone involved in the wool trade.
The earliest recorded instance of the name appears in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, where a certain Konrad Ullmann is mentioned in a document dated 1284. This indicates the name was already well-established in the region by the late medieval period.
During the 16th century, variations of the spelling such as Ulman and Uhlmann can be found in records from various parts of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and Swabia. This suggests the name had spread across different regions by this time.
Notable historical figures with the surname Ullmann include Johannes Ullmann, a German humanist scholar and mathematician born in 1508 who published works on arithmetic and geometry. Another early bearer of the name was Konrad Ullmann, a 16th-century Lutheran theologian from Saxony.
In the 18th century, Johann Christoph Ullmann, born in 1705, was a renowned German jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor of law at the University of Göttingen. His son, Karl Christian Ullmann, born in 1759, was also a respected legal scholar and writer.
One of the most famous individuals with the surname Ullmann was Victor Ullmann, an Austrian composer and conductor born in 1898. Tragically, he perished in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, but his works, including the opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis, have been revived and celebrated in recent decades.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ullmann
Among Census respondents with the surname Ullmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Ullmann 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 Ullmann surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.5% · 956
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 54
- Two or more races2.6% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 13
- Black or African American0.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Ullmann
Ullmann 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
#24,260
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,034
+118 bearers (+12.9%)
Per 100,000 0.35
Rank movement Up 1,114 places
2020
#24,658
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,056
+22 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 0.35
Rank movement Down 398 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #25,374 | 916 | 0.34 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #24,260 | 1,034 | 0.35 | +118 bearers (+12.9%) | Up 1,114 places |
| 2020 | #24,658 | 1,056 | 0.35 | +22 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 398 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 Ullmann 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 | #24,260 | #24,658 | -1.6% |
| Count | 1,034 | 1,056 | 2.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Ullmann bearers went from 1,034 to 1,056 (+2.1% change). The surname moved down 398 positions in the national ranking, going from #24,260 to #24,658.
FAQ
Ullmann surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Ullmann?
Name Census estimates that about 1,211 living Americans carry the surname Ullmann. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 283,034 residents.
How common is Ullmann?
Ullmann ranks #24,658 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.35 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 1,056 people with the surname Ullmann. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,211), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.35 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.35 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 Ullmann.
Has Ullmann become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Ullmann went from 1,034 recorded bearers to 1,056. That is an increase of 22 (+2.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #24,260 to #24,658.
What does the Census say about the background of Ullmann?
Among Census respondents with the surname Ullmann, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.1%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Ullmann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (956 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Ullmann appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.5%), Hispanic (5.1%), Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Ullmann (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 Ullmann mean?
A Germanic surname derived from a nickname meaning "little wolf". 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 Ullmann (0.35 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 common is the surname Ullmann?
For a quick modern take, check how common the surname Ullmann is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.