2000
#14,314
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,920
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.71
Rare Last name
Wehmeyer
A German surname derived from a place name meaning "one from Wehmeyer."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,110 Americans carry the last name Wehmeyer. That puts it at #15,355 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 162,443 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wehmeyer 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
2.1K
1 in 162,443
Census rank
#15,355
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,840 bearers of the surname Wehmeyer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15355th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wehmeyer, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wehmeyer
The surname WEHMEYER is of German origin, originating in the regions of northern and central Germany during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Middle Low German word "wehmeier," which referred to a tenant farmer or villager who lived on a common meadow or pasture.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname WEHMEYER can be found in medieval documents and records from the 13th and 14th centuries. In these documents, the name appeared with various spellings, such as Weymair, Wehmeyer, and Wehmayer, reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling at the time.
One of the earliest known bearers of the WEHMEYER surname was Hans Wehmeyer, a farmer who lived in the village of Zittau, Saxony, in the late 14th century. His name is mentioned in a land registry from 1387, which records him as owning a small plot of land on the outskirts of the village.
In the 16th century, the WEHMEYER name appears in several church records and municipal documents from the cities of Hamburg and Bremen. Notable individuals from this period include Johann Wehmeyer (1540-1612), a merchant and alderman in the city of Bremen, and Katharina Wehmeyer (1574-1638), a midwife who practiced in the town of Lüneburg.
As the surname spread throughout Germany over the centuries, it also found its way into other parts of Europe. In the 18th century, there are records of a family of Wehmeyers living in the Netherlands, with Johannes Wehmeyer (1712-1784) being a prominent merchant and landowner in the city of Amsterdam.
Moving into the 19th century, one of the most notable individuals with the WEHMEYER surname was Carl Friedrich Wehmeyer (1815-1892), a German philosopher and writer who was a proponent of the Hegelian school of thought. His works, including "The Essence of Christianity" and "The Philosophy of Religion," were widely read and influential during his lifetime.
Another significant figure was Wilhelm Wehmeyer (1857-1924), a German architect who was instrumental in the design and construction of several iconic buildings in Berlin and other cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His most famous work is the Anhalter Bahnhof, a grand railway station in Berlin that was demolished in the 1960s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wehmeyer
Among Census respondents with the surname Wehmeyer, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Wehmeyer 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 Wehmeyer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.5% · 1,683
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 86
- Two or more races2.8% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
- Black or African American0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wehmeyer
Wehmeyer 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
#15,978
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,817
-103 bearers (-5.4%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 1,664 places
2020
#15,355
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,840
+23 bearers (+1.3%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Up 623 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,314 | 1,920 | 0.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,978 | 1,817 | 0.62 | -103 bearers (-5.4%) | Down 1,664 places |
| 2020 | #15,355 | 1,840 | 0.62 | +23 bearers (+1.3%) | Up 623 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 Wehmeyer 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 | #15,978 | #15,355 | 3.9% |
| Count | 1,817 | 1,840 | 1.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.62 | 0.62 | -0.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wehmeyer bearers went from 1,817 to 1,840 (+1.3% change). The surname moved up 623 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,978 to #15,355.
FAQ
Wehmeyer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wehmeyer?
Name Census estimates that about 2,110 living Americans carry the surname Wehmeyer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 162,443 residents.
How common is Wehmeyer?
Wehmeyer ranks #15,355 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 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 1,840 people with the surname Wehmeyer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,110), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 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 Wehmeyer.
Has Wehmeyer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wehmeyer went from 1,817 recorded bearers to 1,840. That is an increase of 23 (+1.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #15,978 to #15,355.
What does the Census say about the background of Wehmeyer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wehmeyer, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Wehmeyer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.5% (1,683 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wehmeyer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.5%), Hispanic (4.7%), Two or More Races (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 Wehmeyer (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 Wehmeyer mean?
A German surname derived from a place name meaning "one from Wehmeyer." 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 Wehmeyer (0.62 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 Wehmeyer?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.