2000
#38,035
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 548
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.20
Very Rare Last name
Vanderhoef
A Dutch surname denoting someone who lived near a farm or rural property.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 711 Americans carry the last name Vanderhoef. That puts it at #38,417 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.21 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 482,074 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Vanderhoef 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
711
1 in 482,074
Census rank
#38,417
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
620
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 620 bearers of the surname Vanderhoef in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.21 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 38417th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Vanderhoef, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Vanderhoef
The surname VANDERHOEF is of Dutch origin, emerging in the late medieval period in the Low Countries region. It is a topographic name, derived from the Dutch words "van der" meaning "from the" and "hoef" referring to a farmstead or estate. This suggests that the earliest bearers of this name likely resided on or near a particular farmstead or rural estate.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name VANDERHOEF can be found in the town records of Delft, Holland, in the 15th century. These archives mention a Cornelis Vanderhoef, a farmer who owned a modest plot of land just outside the town's borders. The name's spelling variations during this time included Vanderhoeve and Vanderhouff.
In the 16th century, the VANDERHOEF name appeared in several Dutch church registers and legal documents from the provinces of Holland and Utrecht. Notable examples include Hendrick Vanderhoef, a merchant from Amsterdam born in 1542, and Grietje Vanderhoef, a resident of Leiden who was listed in a baptismal record from 1586.
As the Dutch established colonies in the New World during the 17th and 18th centuries, some individuals bearing the VANDERHOEF surname made the journey across the Atlantic. One such individual was Pieter Vanderhoef, who arrived in New Amsterdam (later New York) from Friesland in 1647 and became one of the earliest settlers of what is now Brooklyn.
Throughout the centuries, the VANDERHOEF name has been associated with various notable figures. Jan Vanderhoef (1683-1749) was a renowned Dutch landscape painter whose works are held in collections across Europe. In the 19th century, Willem Vanderhoef (1825-1892) was a prominent Dutch politician who served as Mayor of Rotterdam and a member of the House of Representatives.
Other historical bearers of the VANDERHOEF name include Cornelis Vanderhoef (1792-1858), a Dutch naval officer who participated in the Napoleonic Wars, and Johannes Vanderhoef (1881-1954), a Dutch-born American architect known for his work on several landmark buildings in New York City.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vanderhoef
Among Census respondents with the surname Vanderhoef, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Vanderhoef 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 Vanderhoef surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.4% · 554
- Two or more races5.0% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 18
- Black or African American1.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Vanderhoef
Vanderhoef 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
#36,838
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 606
+58 bearers (+10.6%)
Per 100,000 0.21
Rank movement Up 1,197 places
2020
#38,417
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 620
+14 bearers (+2.3%)
Per 100,000 0.21
Rank movement Down 1,579 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #38,035 | 548 | 0.20 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #36,838 | 606 | 0.21 | +58 bearers (+10.6%) | Up 1,197 places |
| 2020 | #38,417 | 620 | 0.21 | +14 bearers (+2.3%) | Down 1,579 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 Vanderhoef 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 | #36,838 | #38,417 | -4.3% |
| Count | 606 | 620 | 2.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.21 | 0.21 | -1.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Vanderhoef bearers went from 606 to 620 (+2.3% change). The surname moved down 1,579 positions in the national ranking, going from #36,838 to #38,417.
FAQ
Vanderhoef surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Vanderhoef?
Name Census estimates that about 711 living Americans carry the surname Vanderhoef. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 482,074 residents.
How common is Vanderhoef?
Vanderhoef ranks #38,417 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.21 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 620 people with the surname Vanderhoef. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (711), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.21 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.21 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 Vanderhoef.
Has Vanderhoef become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Vanderhoef went from 606 recorded bearers to 620. That is an increase of 14 (+2.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #36,838 to #38,417.
What does the Census say about the background of Vanderhoef?
Among Census respondents with the surname Vanderhoef, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Vanderhoef in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (554 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Vanderhoef appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.4%), Two or More Races (5.0%), Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Vanderhoef (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 Vanderhoef mean?
A Dutch surname denoting someone who lived near a farm or rural property. 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 Vanderhoef (0.21 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 Vanderhoef?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.