2000
#147,095
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Voeltner
A locational surname derived from a place name in Germany.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Voeltner. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Voeltner 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
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Voeltner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Voeltner, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Voeltner
The surname Voeltner originated in Germany, with its earliest recorded examples dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the German word "Völkner," which was an occupational name referring to someone who worked as a dealer or trader in fabrics and other textiles.
One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the town records of Augsburg, Bavaria, where a certain Hans Voeltner was mentioned as a cloth merchant in 1547. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by that time.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Voeltner family seems to have been particularly prominent in the regions of Saxony and Thuringia. Historical records from this period mention several individuals bearing the name, including Johann Voeltner (1612-1676), a Lutheran pastor and theologian from Mühlhausen, and Christian Voeltner (1720-1789), a renowned composer and organist from Jena.
In the 19th century, the name appears to have spread more widely across Germany and neighboring countries. Notable individuals from this era include Karl Voeltner (1802-1876), a German-American journalist and political activist who was involved in the revolutionary movements of 1848, and Gustav Voeltner (1837-1919), a German architect and urban planner who designed several prominent buildings in Berlin.
As German immigration to the United States and other countries increased in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Voeltner name began to appear in various parts of the world. One notable example is Bernhard Voeltner (1876-1954), a German-American physicist and engineer who made significant contributions to the development of X-ray technology.
Other individuals of note bearing the Voeltner surname include Hans Voeltner (1909-1992), a German artist and painter known for his landscapes and still lifes, and Erwin Voeltner (1914-2003), a German-American chemist and inventor who worked on the development of synthetic rubber during World War II.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Voeltner
Among Census respondents with the surname Voeltner, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Voeltner 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 Voeltner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.7% · 110
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 2
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Voeltner
Voeltner 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
#143,149
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
+13 bearers (+12.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 3,946 places
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 2,608 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #147,095 | 103 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #143,149 | 116 | 0.04 | +13 bearers (+12.6%) | Up 3,946 places |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Down 2,608 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 Voeltner 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 | #143,149 | #145,757 | -1.8% |
| Count | 116 | 115 | -0.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Voeltner bearers went from 116 to 115 (-0.9% change). The surname moved down 2,608 positions in the national ranking, going from #143,149 to #145,757.
FAQ
Voeltner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Voeltner?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Voeltner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Voeltner?
Voeltner ranks #145,757 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 115 people with the surname Voeltner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), 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 Voeltner.
Has Voeltner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Voeltner went from 116 recorded bearers to 115. That is a decrease of 1 (-0.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #143,149 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Voeltner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Voeltner, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.7%) and Black (0.9%). 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 Voeltner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (110 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Voeltner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.7%), Hispanic (1.7%), Black (0.9%). 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 Voeltner (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 Voeltner mean?
A locational surname derived from a place name in Germany. 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 Voeltner (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 Voeltner?
If you just want to know how common the surname Voeltner is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.