2010
#154,907
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Winterboer
A Dutch surname meaning "winter farmer" referring to someone whose occupation was farming in the winter months.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 115 Americans carry the last name Winterboer. That puts it at #155,682 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,980,473 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Winterboer 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
115
1 in 2,980,473
Census rank
#155,682
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
100
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 100 bearers of the surname Winterboer in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 155682nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Winterboer, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Winterboer
The surname Winterboer is believed to have originated from the regions now known as Germany and the Netherlands. The name likely dates back to the late Middle Ages, specifically between the 12th and 14th centuries. Its structure suggests Germanic roots, combining the words winter and boer, which respectively mean "winter" and "farmer" or "peasant" in Dutch and Low German dialects.
Winterboer likely referred to a farmer who was notably active or had some significant connection to the winter season, whether through certain agricultural practices or a trait related to enduring or thriving during the colder months. It is also plausible that these individuals lived or worked in areas where winters were particularly harsh.
In historical references and old manuscripts, the name Winterboer does not appear frequently, hinting that it might have been a more localized surname or one that was not prominently featured in early records due to its rural associations. One early record from the 15th century mentions a person named Jan Winterboer in a municipal document from the Dutch town of Haarlem, dated around 1475.
The earliest reliably recorded example of the surname also appears in German-speaking regions. An Albrecht Winterboer is mentioned in a tax record from 1523 in the town of Bremen. These early mentions help establish the geographical origins and time period in which the surname was first used.
In terms of place names, there is no direct evidence associating Winterboer with specific towns or villages, but its components suggest a connection to rural and agrarian life, likely in areas subject to severe winter conditions. There were similar older spellings like Winterbauer, suggesting a similar etymological origin with slight regional linguistic variations.
Among notable individuals bearing the surname, Hendrik Winterboer, born in 1653, was a Dutch trader known for his extensive travels in East Asia. Another significant person was Johann Winterboer, born in 1701, who was a respected craftsman in Cologne and contributed to the local trade guilds.
In the 19th century, Anna Winterboer, born in 1820, was known in academic circles for her written works on agriculture and rural life in the Netherlands. Albert Winterboer, born in 1855, made a name as an early pioneer in agricultural machinery in Germany, and his innovations were widely adopted.
Overall, the Winterboer surname has historical ties to farming, winter conditions, and rural life, predominantly in Germanic and Dutch regions throughout history, with various notable bearers contributing to their respective fields.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Winterboer
Among Census respondents with the surname Winterboer, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Winterboer 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 Winterboer surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.0% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Winterboer
Winterboer appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#155,682
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 100
-5 bearers (-4.8%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 775 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #154,907 | 105 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #155,682 | 100 | 0.03 | -5 bearers (-4.8%) | Down 775 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 Winterboer 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 | #154,907 | #155,682 | -0.5% |
| Count | 105 | 100 | -4.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -16.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Winterboer bearers went from 105 to 100 (-4.8% change). The surname moved down 775 positions in the national ranking, going from #154,907 to #155,682.
FAQ
Winterboer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Winterboer?
Name Census estimates that about 115 living Americans carry the surname Winterboer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,980,473 residents.
How common is Winterboer?
Winterboer ranks #155,682 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 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 100 people with the surname Winterboer. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (115), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 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 Winterboer.
Has Winterboer become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Winterboer went from 105 recorded bearers to 100. That is a decrease of 5 (-4.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #154,907 to #155,682.
What does the Census say about the background of Winterboer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Winterboer, the largest self-reported group is White at 96.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%). 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 Winterboer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.0% (96 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Winterboer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (96.0%), Hispanic (3.0%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%). 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 Winterboer (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 Winterboer mean?
A Dutch surname meaning "winter farmer" referring to someone whose occupation was farming in the winter months. 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 Winterboer (0.03 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 are called Winterboer?
See how many people have the surname Winterboer on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.