2000
#8,258
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,690
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.37
Rare Last name
Waldner
An occupational surname for someone who lived near or worked in a forest.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,413 Americans carry the last name Waldner. That puts it at #8,250 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.29 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 77,669 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Waldner 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
4.4K
1 in 77,669
Census rank
#8,250
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,848 bearers of the surname Waldner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.29 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8250th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Waldner, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Waldner
The surname Waldner is of Germanic origin, specifically from the German and Austrian regions. It is derived from the Old High German word "wald," which means "forest" or "woods," combined with the suffix "-ner," which indicates someone who lived near or in the forest.
The earliest recorded instances of the Waldner surname can be traced back to the 13th century in various German-speaking regions, including Bavaria, Austria, and Switzerland. Some of the earliest known bearers of this name were mentioned in medieval records and documents, such as the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae and the Österreichisches Urbarlexikon.
In the 14th century, the name Waldner appeared in the Mecklenburg Grünauer Codex, a medieval manuscript containing genealogical records of noble families in Mecklenburg, Germany. This suggests that the Waldner family may have had aristocratic roots in that region.
One notable figure with the surname Waldner was Johann Baptist Waldner (1786-1865), an Austrian painter and engraver known for his religious works and portraits. His paintings can be found in various churches and galleries across Austria and Germany.
Another individual of historical significance was Franz Anton Waldner (1765-1838), an Austrian jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor of law at the University of Vienna. His writings and teachings significantly influenced the development of Austrian civil law.
In the 19th century, the Waldner surname was also associated with the German-American community in the United States. One prominent example was Heinrich Waldner (1823-1901), a German-born American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Waldner & Wieser Brewery in St. Louis, Missouri.
The name Waldner has also been connected to various place names and locations throughout German-speaking regions. For instance, the town of Waldnerkogel in Austria and the Waldnermühle, a historic mill in Saxony, Germany, both derive their names from individuals bearing the Waldner surname.
Throughout history, various spellings of the Waldner surname have been recorded, such as Waldener, Walldner, and Waldnair, reflecting regional variations and linguistic changes over time.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Waldner
Among Census respondents with the surname Waldner, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Waldner 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 Waldner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.4% · 3,749
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 35
- Two or more races0.9% · 33
- Black or African American0.4% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Waldner
Waldner 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
#13,545
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,238
-1,452 bearers (-39.3%)
Per 100,000 0.76
Rank movement Down 5,287 places
2020
#8,250
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,848
+1,610 bearers (+71.9%)
Per 100,000 1.29
Rank movement Up 5,295 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,258 | 3,690 | 1.37 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,545 | 2,238 | 0.76 | -1,452 bearers (-39.3%) | Down 5,287 places |
| 2020 | #8,250 | 3,848 | 1.29 | +1,610 bearers (+71.9%) | Up 5,295 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 Waldner 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 | #13,545 | #8,250 | 39.1% |
| Count | 2,238 | 3,848 | 71.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.76 | 1.29 | 69.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Waldner bearers went from 2,238 to 3,848 (+71.9% change). The surname moved up 5,295 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,545 to #8,250.
FAQ
Waldner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Waldner?
Name Census estimates that about 4,413 living Americans carry the surname Waldner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 77,669 residents.
How common is Waldner?
Waldner ranks #8,250 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.29 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,848 people with the surname Waldner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,413), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.29 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.29 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Waldner.
Has Waldner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Waldner went from 2,238 recorded bearers to 3,848. That is an increase of 1,610 (+71.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #13,545 to #8,250.
What does the Census say about the background of Waldner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Waldner, the largest self-reported group is White at 97.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.9%) and Two or More Races (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 Waldner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.4% (3,749 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Waldner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (97.4%), Hispanic (0.9%), Two or More Races (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 Waldner (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 Waldner mean?
An occupational surname for someone who lived near or worked in a forest. 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 Waldner (1.29 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 are called Waldner?
If you just want to know how many people are called Waldner, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.