Find out how popular the last name Volkman is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Volkman.

Volkman, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Volkman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Volkman in America

Volkman is the 14006th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Volkman surname appeared 2,150 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Volkman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Volkman to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Volkman

The surname Volkman is of German origin, derived from the occupational name "Volker," meaning "fuller" or a person who treated and thickened cloth. The name can be traced back to the 13th century in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, where the textile industry was thriving.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Volkman can be found in the Bürger-Buch (Citizen Book) of the city of Nuremberg, dated 1347, which mentions a Johann Volkman, a cloth merchant.

In the 15th century, the name Volkman appeared in various court records and manuscripts, such as the Landbücher (Land Registers) of the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, which documented land ownership and transactions.

The surname Volkman is also closely associated with the town of Volkmarsen, located in the present-day state of Hesse, Germany. The town's name is believed to have derived from the Old High German term "folcmari," meaning "people's boundary or border."

Notable individuals with the surname Volkman throughout history include:

1. Johann Volkman (1516-1588), a German theologian and reformer who played a significant role in the establishment of Lutheranism in Saxony.

2. Hans Volkman (1619-1675), a German painter and engraver known for his religious and allegorical works.

3. Christoph Volkman (1705-1761), a German mathematician and astronomer who made important contributions to the study of celestial mechanics.

4. Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann (1801-1877), a German physiologist and anatomist who made significant discoveries in the field of neuroscience.

5. Richard Volkmann (1830-1889), a German philosopher and psychologist who pioneered the study of cognitive processes and perception.

The surname Volkman has also been associated with various place names, such as Volkmaritz, a village in Thuringia, Germany, and Volkmarsen, the aforementioned town in Hesse.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Volkman

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Volkman.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Volkman was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Volkman has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Volkman was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Volkman, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!