2000
#8,576
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,536
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.31
Rare Last name
Wunderlich
A German surname referring to an eccentric, strange, or wondrous person.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,078 Americans carry the last name Wunderlich. That puts it at #8,842 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.19 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 84,050 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wunderlich 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 84,050
Census rank
#8,842
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.6K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,556 bearers of the surname Wunderlich in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.19 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 8842nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wunderlich, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and Hispanic (2.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wunderlich
The surname Wunderlich originated in Germany and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Middle High German words "wunder" meaning "wonderful" or "marvelous" and "lich" meaning "like" or "body". Thus, Wunderlich translates to someone who has a marvelous or wonderful appearance or character.
One of the earliest known references to the name Wunderlich is found in the 1295 Bavarian codex, where a Heinricus Wunderlich is mentioned. The name also appears in various other medieval records from German-speaking regions, suggesting it was relatively widespread during that era.
In the 16th century, the Wunderlich surname emerged in areas like Saxony, Thuringia, and Silesia. Variations in spelling included Wunderliche, Wunderlych, and Wunderlick. The name was often associated with specific locations, such as Wunderlich von Dornberg, referring to a place called Dornberg.
Notable individuals with the surname Wunderlich throughout history include Johann Wunderlich (1615-1677), a German theologian and writer from Saxony. Another was Johann Wunderlich (1766-1826), a Prussian jurist and writer on legal theory.
In the 19th century, Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich (1815-1877) was a German physician who made significant contributions to the study of body temperature and clinical thermometry. He is credited with establishing the standard of 98.6°F (37°C) as normal body temperature.
Other historical figures with the Wunderlich surname include Friedrich Wunderlich (1820-1876), a German composer and music theorist, and Ernst Wunderlich (1886-1962), a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Berlin during the early 20th century.
The Wunderlich name also has associations with various place names, such as Wunderlich Manor in Saxony, which dates back to the 16th century, and the town of Wunderlich in Lower Silesia, now part of Poland.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wunderlich
Among Census respondents with the surname Wunderlich, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and Hispanic (2.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Wunderlich 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 Wunderlich surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.8% · 3,336
- Two or more races2.4% · 86
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 84
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 34
- Black or African American0.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wunderlich
Wunderlich 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
#9,068
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,604
+68 bearers (+1.9%)
Per 100,000 1.22
Rank movement Down 492 places
2020
#8,842
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,556
-48 bearers (-1.3%)
Per 100,000 1.19
Rank movement Up 226 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,576 | 3,536 | 1.31 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #9,068 | 3,604 | 1.22 | +68 bearers (+1.9%) | Down 492 places |
| 2020 | #8,842 | 3,556 | 1.19 | -48 bearers (-1.3%) | Up 226 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 Wunderlich 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 | #9,068 | #8,842 | 2.5% |
| Count | 3,604 | 3,556 | -1.3% |
| Per 100K | 1.22 | 1.19 | -2.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wunderlich bearers went from 3,604 to 3,556 (-1.3% change). The surname moved up 226 positions in the national ranking, going from #9,068 to #8,842.
FAQ
Wunderlich surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wunderlich?
Name Census estimates that about 4,078 living Americans carry the surname Wunderlich. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 84,050 residents.
How common is Wunderlich?
Wunderlich ranks #8,842 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.19 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 3,556 people with the surname Wunderlich. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,078), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.19 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.19 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 Wunderlich.
Has Wunderlich become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wunderlich went from 3,604 recorded bearers to 3,556. That is a decrease of 48 (-1.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #9,068 to #8,842.
What does the Census say about the background of Wunderlich?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wunderlich, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.4%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Wunderlich in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.8% (3,336 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wunderlich appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.8%), Two or More Races (2.4%), Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Wunderlich (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 Wunderlich mean?
A German surname referring to an eccentric, strange, or wondrous person. 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 Wunderlich (1.19 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 last name Wunderlich?
See how many Americans have the surname Wunderlich on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.