2000
#337
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 83,112
First available Census row
Per 100,000 30.81
Uncommon Last name
Wolfe
An English surname derived from the animal, likely referring to a person with wolf-like characteristics or a wolf hunter.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 92,357 Americans carry the last name Wolfe. That puts it at #388 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 26.95 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 3,711 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wolfe 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 Wolfe with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
92K
1 in 3,711
Census rank
#388
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
26.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
81K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 80,540 bearers of the surname Wolfe in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 26.95 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 388th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wolfe, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Black (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wolfe
The surname Wolfe is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English word "wulf" meaning wolf. It is believed to have originated as a nickname for someone who exhibited wolf-like characteristics or lived near an area frequented by wolves.
The name can be traced back to the 11th century in England, with records showing it appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086, a survey of land and property carried out by William the Conqueror after the Norman invasion.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1175, where a man named Alanus Lupus (Latin for "wolf") is mentioned. This suggests that the name may have been influenced by the Norman-French word "loup" which also means wolf.
In the 13th century, the name appears in various spellings such as Wulf, Wolff, and Wolfe, indicating the development of the modern form. The surname is also found in place names like Woolfe Green in Buckinghamshire and Wolfeley in Shropshire, further indicating its widespread use.
Notable individuals with the surname Wolfe include John Wolfe (c. 1537-1601), an English Protestant writer and controversialist; James Wolfe (1727-1759), a British Army officer known for his victory over the French in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham during the Seven Years' War; and Thomas Clayton Wolfe (1900-1938), an American novelist best known for his novel "Look Homeward, Angel".
Other notable figures with the surname include Michael Wolff (born 1953), an American author and journalist; Christian Wolff (1679-1754), a German philosopher and mathematician; and Elsie de Wolfe (1865-1950), an American actress and interior decorator credited with popularizing a modern, informal style of interior design.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wolfe
Among Census respondents with the surname Wolfe, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Black (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Wolfe 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 Wolfe surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.5% · 70,482
- Two or more races3.9% · 3,102
- Black or African American3.7% · 2,996
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 2,469
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 958
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 533
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wolfe
Wolfe 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
#374
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 83,928
+816 bearers (+1.0%)
Per 100,000 28.45
Rank movement Down 37 places
2020
#388
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 80,540
-3,388 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 26.95
Rank movement Down 14 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #337 | 83,112 | 30.81 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #374 | 83,928 | 28.45 | +816 bearers (+1.0%) | Down 37 places |
| 2020 | #388 | 80,540 | 26.95 | -3,388 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 14 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 Wolfe 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 | #374 | #388 | -3.7% |
| Count | 83,928 | 80,540 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 28.45 | 26.95 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wolfe bearers went from 83,928 to 80,540 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 14 positions in the national ranking, going from #374 to #388.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Wolfe
FAQ
Wolfe surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wolfe?
Name Census estimates that about 92,357 living Americans carry the surname Wolfe. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 3,711 residents.
How common is Wolfe?
Wolfe ranks #388 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 26.95 per 100,000 residents, which is about 27 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 80,540 people with the surname Wolfe. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (92,357), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 26.95 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 26.95 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 27 of them to have the surname Wolfe.
Has Wolfe become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wolfe went from 83,928 recorded bearers to 80,540. That is a decrease of 3,388 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #374 to #388.
What does the Census say about the background of Wolfe?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wolfe, the largest self-reported group is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.9%) and Black (3.7%). 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 Wolfe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.5% (70,482 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wolfe appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (87.5%), Two or More Races (3.9%), Black (3.7%). 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 Wolfe (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 Wolfe mean?
An English surname derived from the animal, likely referring to a person with wolf-like characteristics or a wolf hunter. 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 Wolfe (26.95 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 Wolfe?
See how many people are called Wolfe on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.