2000
#7,506
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,092
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.52
Rare Last name
Winkelman
A German occupational surname referring to a shopkeeper or store owner, derived from the German word "winkel" meaning "corner."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,136 Americans carry the last name Winkelman. That puts it at #8,727 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.21 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 82,871 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Winkelman 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
4.1K
1 in 82,871
Census rank
#8,727
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,607 bearers of the surname Winkelman in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.21 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8727th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Winkelman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Winkelman
The surname Winkelman is of German origin, originating in the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the old German words "winch" meaning a bend or curve, and "mann" meaning man, referring to someone who lived near a winding stream or road.
One of the earliest recorded spellings of the name was Winkelmann, found in the town records of Hannover, Germany, dating back to 1389. Over time, variations such as Winkelman, Winkelmann, and Winckelmann emerged.
The name Winkelman has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest was Johann Joachim Winckelmann, a German art historian and archaeologist born in 1717, known as the "father of modern archaeology." He made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek and Roman art.
Another prominent figure was Eduard Winckelmann, a German mathematician and philosopher, born in 1835. He made important contributions to the field of logic and was a proponent of the "algebraic logic" movement.
In the realm of literature, Hermann Winkelman, a German writer born in 1849, gained recognition for his novels and short stories depicting rural life in the Rhineland region.
Closer to the present day, Willy Winkelman was a Dutch football player and manager, born in 1944. He played for the Netherlands national team and later managed several clubs, including Ajax Amsterdam and the Dutch national team.
The name Winkelman has also been associated with several place names in Germany, such as Winkelmannshöhe, a district in the city of Hanau, and Winkelmannstal, a valley in the Black Forest region.
While the name Winkelman has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world, though it remains relatively uncommon. The variations in spelling and pronunciation reflect the name's journey across different regions and languages.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Winkelman
Among Census respondents with the surname Winkelman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Winkelman 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 Winkelman surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.5% · 3,335
- Two or more races3.5% · 127
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 98
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 17
- Black or African American0.4% · 13
Timeline
Historical Census data for Winkelman
Winkelman 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
#8,093
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,097
+5 bearers (+0.1%)
Per 100,000 1.39
Rank movement Down 587 places
2020
#8,727
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,607
-490 bearers (-12.0%)
Per 100,000 1.21
Rank movement Down 634 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,506 | 4,092 | 1.52 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,093 | 4,097 | 1.39 | +5 bearers (+0.1%) | Down 587 places |
| 2020 | #8,727 | 3,607 | 1.21 | -490 bearers (-12.0%) | Down 634 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 Winkelman 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 | #8,093 | #8,727 | -7.8% |
| Count | 4,097 | 3,607 | -12.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.39 | 1.21 | -13.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Winkelman bearers went from 4,097 to 3,607 (-12.0% change). The surname moved down 634 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,093 to #8,727.
FAQ
Winkelman surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Winkelman?
Name Census estimates that about 4,136 living Americans carry the surname Winkelman. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 82,871 residents.
How common is Winkelman?
Winkelman ranks #8,727 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.21 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 3,607 people with the surname Winkelman. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,136), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.21 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.21 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 Winkelman.
Has Winkelman become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Winkelman went from 4,097 recorded bearers to 3,607. That is a decrease of 490 (-12.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,093 to #8,727.
What does the Census say about the background of Winkelman?
Among Census respondents with the surname Winkelman, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Winkelman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.5% (3,335 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Winkelman appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.5%), Two or More Races (3.5%), Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Winkelman (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 Winkelman mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a shopkeeper or store owner, derived from the German word "winkel" meaning "corner." 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 Winkelman (1.21 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 Winkelman?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.