2000
#4,660
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,957
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.58
Rare Last name
Walz
A German occupational surname referring to someone who performed a revolving dance or was a dance leader.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,992 Americans carry the last name Walz. That puts it at #4,907 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.33 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 42,887 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Walz 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
8.0K
1 in 42,887
Census rank
#4,907
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,969 bearers of the surname Walz in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.33 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4907th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Walz, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Walz
The surname WALZ is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "walz" meaning "to wander" or "to roam". It likely originated in the 12th or 13th century as a descriptive name for someone who traveled frequently or was a wandering tradesman or merchant.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name WALZ dates back to the 14th century in the region of Württemberg, Germany. An entry in a local parish record from 1386 mentions a "Hans Walz" residing in the town of Esslingen.
The WALZ surname is also found in historical records from the neighboring regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, suggesting that it was relatively widespread in southern Germany during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the WALZ name was Bartholomew Walz, a German poet and humanist born in Strasbourg in 1527. His works, published in the 1560s, provide valuable insights into the literary culture of the era.
During the 17th century, the WALZ surname appears in various town chronicles and tax records from villages in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany, such as Triberg, Furtwangen, and Villingen.
An influential figure from the 18th century was Johann Jakob Walz (1721-1793), a German theologian and philosopher from Württemberg who wrote extensively on moral philosophy and ethics.
In the 19th century, a prominent WALZ was Karl Friedrich Walz (1800-1887), a German classical scholar and philologist known for his editions of ancient Greek texts and his work on the history of Greek literature.
Another notable figure was Ernst Walz (1864-1943), a German painter and illustrator born in Stuttgart, whose works often depicted scenes from rural life and landscapes of southern Germany.
While the WALZ surname is predominantly found in Germany, it has also spread to other parts of Europe and the Americas through emigration, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Walz
Among Census respondents with the surname Walz, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Walz 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 Walz surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.4% · 6,437
- Two or more races3.2% · 226
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 193
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 47
- Black or African American0.6% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 26
Timeline
Historical Census data for Walz
Walz 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
#4,879
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,220
+263 bearers (+3.8%)
Per 100,000 2.45
Rank movement Down 219 places
2020
#4,907
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,969
-251 bearers (-3.5%)
Per 100,000 2.33
Rank movement Down 28 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,660 | 6,957 | 2.58 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,879 | 7,220 | 2.45 | +263 bearers (+3.8%) | Down 219 places |
| 2020 | #4,907 | 6,969 | 2.33 | -251 bearers (-3.5%) | Down 28 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 Walz 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 | #4,879 | #4,907 | -0.6% |
| Count | 7,220 | 6,969 | -3.5% |
| Per 100K | 2.45 | 2.33 | -4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Walz bearers went from 7,220 to 6,969 (-3.5% change). The surname moved down 28 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,879 to #4,907.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Walz
FAQ
Walz surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Walz?
Name Census estimates that about 7,992 living Americans carry the surname Walz. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 42,887 residents.
How common is Walz?
Walz ranks #4,907 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.33 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,969 people with the surname Walz. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,992), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.33 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.33 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Walz.
Has Walz become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Walz went from 7,220 recorded bearers to 6,969. That is a decrease of 251 (-3.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,879 to #4,907.
What does the Census say about the background of Walz?
Among Census respondents with the surname Walz, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.2%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Walz in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (6,437 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Walz appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.4%), Two or More Races (3.2%), Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Walz (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 Walz mean?
A German occupational surname referring to someone who performed a revolving dance or was a dance leader. 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 Walz (2.33 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 Americans have the surname Walz?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.