2000
#141,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 108
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Willger
A German occupational surname derived from "will" and "ger," referring to someone who produced willow branches or baskets.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 133 Americans carry the last name Willger. That puts it at #145,028 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,577,100 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Willger 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
133
1 in 2,577,100
Census rank
#145,028
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
116
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 116 bearers of the surname Willger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145028th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Willger, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Willger
The surname Willger originates from the regions of Germany, likely around the medieval period. This name appears to have strong connections with Southern Germany and possibly Alsace, a historical region that has alternated between German and French control. The name is thought to derive from old Germanic personal names with similar phonetic components. One possibility is that Willger evolved from the Old High German name Williger, where "willio" signifies "will" or "desire," and "ger" means "spear" or "warrior." These elements suggest that the name may originally have been given to someone known for their strong will or as a warrior.
Historical references to the name Willger can be found in various medieval manuscripts and local records. For instance, a 12th-century document from a Bavarian monastery lists a certain Heinrich Willger as a witness in property transactions. This indicates that the name was in use and associated with notable individuals as early as the 1100s.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname is Hans Willger, documented as a resident of Alsace in the early 14th century. Another significant historical figure is Ulrich Willger, who was a noted merchant in Vienna during the late 15th century. His trading ventures took him across Central Europe, and records from 1492 mention his dealings in Leipzig.
Moving into the 16th century, Georg Willger became a notable name in the religious tumult of the Reformation. Born around 1505, he was a Protestant reformer who played a role in the dissemination of Martin Luther's teachings in Bavaria. His contributions are documented in church archives and reformist records of the time.
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the name appeared in records from the Rhineland-Palatinate, an area with heavy migration to the New World. Johann Friedrich Willger, born in 1683, was listed among those who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the first part of the 18th century. He became a prominent figure within the German immigrant community there.
An interesting occurrence of the name can be traced to the musical sphere; Heinrich Willger, a composer from Saxony, was active in the mid-19th century. Born in 1820, his works include several hymns and chamber pieces that were popular in local Lutheran congregations.
The Willger surname thus carries a long history that begins in medieval Germany, extends through various regions including Bavaria, Alsace, and the Rhineland, and even crosses into America with notable historical figures making their mark in religion, commerce, and the arts throughout the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Willger
Among Census respondents with the surname Willger, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Willger 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 Willger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White99.1% · 115
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Willger
Willger 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
#140,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
+11 bearers (+10.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 1,631 places
2020
#145,028
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 116
-3 bearers (-2.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 4,871 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #141,788 | 108 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #140,157 | 119 | 0.04 | +11 bearers (+10.2%) | Up 1,631 places |
| 2020 | #145,028 | 116 | 0.04 | -3 bearers (-2.5%) | Down 4,871 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 Willger 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 | #140,157 | #145,028 | -3.5% |
| Count | 119 | 116 | -2.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Willger bearers went from 119 to 116 (-2.5% change). The surname moved down 4,871 positions in the national ranking, going from #140,157 to #145,028.
FAQ
Willger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Willger?
Name Census estimates that about 133 living Americans carry the surname Willger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,577,100 residents.
How common is Willger?
Willger ranks #145,028 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 116 people with the surname Willger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (133), 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 Willger.
Has Willger become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Willger went from 119 recorded bearers to 116. That is a decrease of 3 (-2.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #140,157 to #145,028.
What does the Census say about the background of Willger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Willger, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%. The next largest groups are 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 Willger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.1% (115 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Willger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (99.1%), 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 Willger (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 Willger mean?
A German occupational surname derived from "will" and "ger," referring to someone who produced willow branches or baskets. 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 Willger (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 Willger?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.