2000
#12,360
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,305
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.85
Rare Last name
Willer
A German occupational surname derived from the Middle High German word "wil," meaning "veil" or "headscarf," likely referring to a veil-maker.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,310 Americans carry the last name Willer. That puts it at #14,292 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.67 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 148,379 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Willer 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Willer with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 148,379
Census rank
#14,292
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,014 bearers of the surname Willer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.67 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14292nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Willer, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Black (3.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Willer
The surname Willer is believed to have originated in Germany, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the German occupational surname "Wollner," which referred to a wool worker or wool merchant. This is supported by the presence of similar spellings such as "Wullner" and "Wollner" in historical records.
In the late 16th century, the name Willer appeared in the town records of Augsburg, a prominent city in Bavaria, Germany. These early mentions suggest that the name may have its roots in southern Germany, where the wool trade was particularly significant during that time period.
The earliest recorded example of the surname Willer can be found in the baptismal records of St. Michael's Church in Augsburg, where a child named Hans Willer was baptized in 1587. This entry provides one of the earliest documented instances of the name in its modern spelling.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Willer continued to appear in various German records, including church registers and municipal documents. One notable individual bearing this surname was Johann Georg Willer, a prominent merchant and landowner who lived in the town of Ulm in the late 17th century.
As the wool trade flourished in Germany during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, the surname Willer likely gained recognition as a marker of this profession. It is possible that the name was also associated with certain locations or villages where wool production was a dominant industry.
Over time, the Willer surname spread beyond Germany, with individuals bearing this name emigrating to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One such individual was Peter Willer, who was born in Bavaria in 1721 and later settled in Pennsylvania, USA, in the mid-18th century.
Other notable individuals with the surname Willer include Friedrich Willer, a German philosopher and writer who lived in the early 19th century, and Wilhelm Willer, a prominent German architect known for his work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Willer
Among Census respondents with the surname Willer, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Black (3.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Willer 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 Willer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.9% · 1,791
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 78
- Black or African American3.8% · 77
- Two or more races2.6% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Willer
Willer 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
#13,133
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,331
+26 bearers (+1.1%)
Per 100,000 0.79
Rank movement Down 773 places
2020
#14,292
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,014
-317 bearers (-13.6%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Down 1,159 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,360 | 2,305 | 0.85 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,133 | 2,331 | 0.79 | +26 bearers (+1.1%) | Down 773 places |
| 2020 | #14,292 | 2,014 | 0.67 | -317 bearers (-13.6%) | Down 1,159 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 Willer 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 | #13,133 | #14,292 | -8.8% |
| Count | 2,331 | 2,014 | -13.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.79 | 0.67 | -14.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Willer bearers went from 2,331 to 2,014 (-13.6% change). The surname moved down 1,159 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,133 to #14,292.
FAQ
Willer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Willer?
Name Census estimates that about 2,310 living Americans carry the surname Willer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 148,379 residents.
How common is Willer?
Willer ranks #14,292 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.67 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 2,014 people with the surname Willer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,310), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.67 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.67 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 Willer.
Has Willer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Willer went from 2,331 recorded bearers to 2,014. That is a decrease of 317 (-13.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,133 to #14,292.
What does the Census say about the background of Willer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Willer, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.9%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Willer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (1,791 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Willer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.9%), Hispanic (3.9%), Black (3.8%). 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 Willer (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 Willer mean?
A German occupational surname derived from the Middle High German word "wil," meaning "veil" or "headscarf," likely referring to a veil-maker. 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 Willer (0.67 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 common is the surname Willer?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the surname Willer at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.