2000
#133,114
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Wiehoff
A German surname likely derived from a place name or denoting a locality.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 122 Americans carry the last name Wiehoff. That puts it at #152,339 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,809,462 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wiehoff 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
122
1 in 2,809,462
Census rank
#152,339
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
106
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 106 bearers of the surname Wiehoff in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152339th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wiehoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wiehoff
The surname Wiehoff is of German origin, emerging around the medieval period when surnames began to be adopted for identification purposes. More specifically, this surname hails from the northern regions of Germany, particularly from areas that are now part of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein.
Wiehoff likely derives from an old German compound of the words "Wie" or "Wi," which could be linked to terms signifying cultivation or settlement, and "Hoff," a term traditionally meaning a farm or large household in older Germanic languages. The surname suggests an association with farming or a homestead, indicating that the family likely had links to agricultural practices.
Historical references to the name Wiehoff can be found in various medieval records. One of the earliest known mentions can be traced back to the 14th century in local parish registers and legal documents in northern Germany. For example, a document dated to 1387 refers to a Johannes Wiehoff who held significant land in the region of what is today Lower Saxony.
Over the centuries, the spelling of the surname has remained relatively consistent, although occasional variations such as Wiehoff and Wiehof have been documented. In a 16th-century land registry, a Heinrich Wiehoff is recorded as a prominent landowner in the area around what is now Hanover, Germany.
Through the 17th and 18th centuries, members of the Wiehoff family continued to appear prominently in local records. Another notable figure was Magdalena Wiehoff, born in 1654 and whose marriage to a merchant established a prominent trading family in Bremen. Her life and work in the business community are documented in town records from the late 1600s.
In the 19th century, migration patterns show that some Wiehoff families moved to the Americas, likely driven by socio-economic changes in Europe. Max Wiehoff, born in 1823, emigrated to the United States around 1850 and settled in the Midwest, where he became known as a successful farmer and community leader in Wisconsin.
Another famous person bearing this surname was Wilhelmine Wiehoff, born in 1877 in Hamburg. She was a noted author and social worker, contributing significantly to early 20th-century literature on social issues in Germany.
Despite its relatively localized origins, the surname Wiehoff has maintained a strong presence in historical documents spanning several centuries, underscoring its enduring legacy within the Germanic cultural and historical framework.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wiehoff
Among Census respondents with the surname Wiehoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Wiehoff 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 Wiehoff surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.4% · 99
- Two or more races3.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wiehoff
Wiehoff 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
#143,149
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
-1 bearers (-0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 10,035 places
2020
#152,339
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 106
-10 bearers (-8.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 9,190 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #133,114 | 117 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #143,149 | 116 | 0.04 | -1 bearers (-0.9%) | Down 10,035 places |
| 2020 | #152,339 | 106 | 0.04 | -10 bearers (-8.6%) | Down 9,190 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 Wiehoff 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 | #143,149 | #152,339 | -6.4% |
| Count | 116 | 106 | -8.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -11.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wiehoff bearers went from 116 to 106 (-8.6% change). The surname moved down 9,190 positions in the national ranking, going from #143,149 to #152,339.
FAQ
Wiehoff surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wiehoff?
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the surname Wiehoff. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,809,462 residents.
How common is Wiehoff?
Wiehoff ranks #152,339 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 106 people with the surname Wiehoff. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (122), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Wiehoff.
Has Wiehoff become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wiehoff went from 116 recorded bearers to 106. That is a decrease of 10 (-8.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #143,149 to #152,339.
What does the Census say about the background of Wiehoff?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wiehoff, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%). 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 Wiehoff in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (99 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wiehoff appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.4%), Two or More Races (3.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.9%). 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 Wiehoff (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 Wiehoff mean?
A German surname likely derived from a place name or denoting a locality. 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 Wiehoff (0.04 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 share the surname Wiehoff?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.