2000
#18,153
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,414
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.52
Rare Last name
Updegraff
A variant of the Dutch surname Opdengraff, referring to someone who lived on or near a grassy ditch or dike.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,496 Americans carry the last name Updegraff. That puts it at #20,561 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.44 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 229,114 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Updegraff 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
1.5K
1 in 229,114
Census rank
#20,561
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,305 bearers of the surname Updegraff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.44 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 20561st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Updegraff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Updegraff
The surname Updegraff is of Dutch origin, with roots tracing back to the 16th century in the Netherlands. It is believed to have derived from the Dutch words "op de graaf," which translates to "on the dike" or "on the embankment." This suggests that the name's earliest bearers may have lived near dikes or embankments, likely in coastal regions of the Netherlands.
One of the earliest documented instances of the name Updegraff can be found in the Dutch municipal records of Leiden, dated 1587, where a certain Jan Updegraff is mentioned as a resident. The name also appears in various other Dutch records from the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with minor variations in spelling such as "Updegraeff" and "Updegraeffe."
As the Dutch colonized parts of North America in the 17th century, some individuals bearing the name Updegraff likely immigrated to the New World. One notable early American bearer of the name was Abraham Updegraff, who was born in 1685 in Esopus, New York, then a Dutch settlement. He was a farmer and landowner in the Hudson Valley region.
Another significant figure in the Updegraff lineage was Johannes Updegraff, born in 1718 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was a prominent member of the Germantown Mennonite community and played a role in the early abolition movement, signing a petition against slavery in 1688.
In the 19th century, the Updegraff name gained prominence through individuals like Samuel Updegraff (1801-1887), a respected lawyer and judge in Ohio, and John Updegraff (1834-1909), a Union Army officer during the American Civil War who later served as a U.S. Congressman from Ohio.
Other notable Updegraffs throughout history include Robert Updegraff (1889-1971), an American psychologist and educator who served as the president of the American Psychological Association in 1953, and Clarence Updegraff (1890-1976), a renowned geologist and paleontologist who made significant contributions to the study of fossils in the southwestern United States.
While the Updegraff name may have originated from the Netherlands, it has since spread to various parts of the world, with bearers of the name making their mark in diverse fields ranging from law and politics to science and academia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Updegraff
Among Census respondents with the surname Updegraff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Updegraff 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 Updegraff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.2% · 1,216
- Two or more races4.0% · 52
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 5
- Black or African American0.2% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Updegraff
Updegraff 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
#19,166
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,417
+3 bearers (+0.2%)
Per 100,000 0.48
Rank movement Down 1,013 places
2020
#20,561
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,305
-112 bearers (-7.9%)
Per 100,000 0.44
Rank movement Down 1,395 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #18,153 | 1,414 | 0.52 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #19,166 | 1,417 | 0.48 | +3 bearers (+0.2%) | Down 1,013 places |
| 2020 | #20,561 | 1,305 | 0.44 | -112 bearers (-7.9%) | Down 1,395 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 Updegraff 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 | #19,166 | #20,561 | -7.3% |
| Count | 1,417 | 1,305 | -7.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.48 | 0.44 | -9.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Updegraff bearers went from 1,417 to 1,305 (-7.9% change). The surname moved down 1,395 positions in the national ranking, going from #19,166 to #20,561.
FAQ
Updegraff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Updegraff?
Name Census estimates that about 1,496 living Americans carry the surname Updegraff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 229,114 residents.
How common is Updegraff?
Updegraff ranks #20,561 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.44 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 1,305 people with the surname Updegraff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,496), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.44 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.44 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 Updegraff.
Has Updegraff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Updegraff went from 1,417 recorded bearers to 1,305. That is a decrease of 112 (-7.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #19,166 to #20,561.
What does the Census say about the background of Updegraff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Updegraff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Updegraff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.2% (1,216 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Updegraff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.2%), Two or More Races (4.0%), Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Updegraff (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 Updegraff mean?
A variant of the Dutch surname Opdengraff, referring to someone who lived on or near a grassy ditch or dike. 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 Updegraff (0.44 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 surname Updegraff?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.