2000
#21,716
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,118
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.41
Rare Last name
Walberg
A topographic surname indicating someone who lived near or worked at a quarry.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,237 Americans carry the last name Walberg. That puts it at #24,186 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.36 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 277,085 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Walberg 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 277,085
Census rank
#24,186
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,079 bearers of the surname Walberg in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.36 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 24186th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Walberg, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Walberg
The surname Walberg has its origins in Scandinavia, particularly in Sweden and Norway. It is believed to have emerged in the 13th or 14th century. The name is derived from the Old Norse words "vollr" meaning "field" or "meadow" and "berg" meaning "hill" or "mountain". Thus, the name likely referred to someone who lived near a hill or mountain surrounded by fields or meadows.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian medieval documents, where a person named Thorstein Walberg is mentioned in a document dated 1389. Another early reference is found in the Swedish Riksarkivet (National Archives), where a man named Erik Walberg is recorded as living in the province of Västmanland in the late 15th century.
The name Walberg has also been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was Hans Walberg, a Swedish Protestant reformer and theologian who lived from 1516 to 1584. He played a significant role in the establishment of the Lutheran Church in Sweden.
In the 18th century, Carl Fredrik Walberg (1756-1835) was a Swedish merchant and shipowner who became one of the wealthiest individuals in the country during his lifetime. His fortune was built through successful trading ventures in the Baltic region.
Another prominent figure was the Norwegian politician and diplomat Johan Henrik Walberg (1799-1876), who served as the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Finance in Norway during the mid-19th century.
In the field of literature, the Swedish author and playwright Gustaf Walberg (1839-1906) is notable for his works depicting rural life in Sweden, including the novel "Frän Venerns strander" (From the Shores of Vänern).
The name Walberg has also been associated with various place names, such as Walberg in the Swedish province of Västmanland and the village of Vålberg in the Norwegian county of Innlandet.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Walberg
Among Census respondents with the surname Walberg, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Walberg 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 Walberg surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.3% · 974
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 39
- Two or more races3.2% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 12
- Black or African American0.3% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Walberg
Walberg 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
#23,167
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,101
-17 bearers (-1.5%)
Per 100,000 0.37
Rank movement Down 1,451 places
2020
#24,186
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,079
-22 bearers (-2.0%)
Per 100,000 0.36
Rank movement Down 1,019 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #21,716 | 1,118 | 0.41 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #23,167 | 1,101 | 0.37 | -17 bearers (-1.5%) | Down 1,451 places |
| 2020 | #24,186 | 1,079 | 0.36 | -22 bearers (-2.0%) | Down 1,019 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 Walberg 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 | #23,167 | #24,186 | -4.4% |
| Count | 1,101 | 1,079 | -2.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.37 | 0.36 | -2.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Walberg bearers went from 1,101 to 1,079 (-2.0% change). The surname moved down 1,019 positions in the national ranking, going from #23,167 to #24,186.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Walberg
FAQ
Walberg surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Walberg?
Name Census estimates that about 1,237 living Americans carry the surname Walberg. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 277,085 residents.
How common is Walberg?
Walberg ranks #24,186 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.36 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 1,079 people with the surname Walberg. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,237), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.36 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.36 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 Walberg.
Has Walberg become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Walberg went from 1,101 recorded bearers to 1,079. That is a decrease of 22 (-2.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #23,167 to #24,186.
What does the Census say about the background of Walberg?
Among Census respondents with the surname Walberg, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Walberg in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.3% (974 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Walberg appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.3%), Hispanic (3.6%), Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Walberg (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 Walberg mean?
A topographic surname indicating someone who lived near or worked at a quarry. 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 Walberg (0.36 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 Walberg?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.