2000
#14,706
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,853
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.69
Rare Last name
Zoeller
A German occupational surname referring to a toll collector or customs official.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,120 Americans carry the last name Zoeller. That puts it at #15,290 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.62 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 161,677 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Zoeller 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
2.1K
1 in 161,677
Census rank
#15,290
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,849 bearers of the surname Zoeller in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.62 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 15290th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Zoeller, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Zoeller
The surname Zoeller is of German origin, deriving from the Old German word "zoll," which referred to a customs house or tollbooth. This suggests that the earliest bearers of this name may have been associated with the collection of tolls or customs duties.
The name first emerged in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in the areas around Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, during the medieval period. Some of the earliest recorded variations of the spelling include Zöller, Zöllner, and Zollner.
One of the earliest known references to the name Zoeller can be found in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Mellicensis, a medieval cartulary from the Melk Abbey in Lower Austria, which dates back to the 12th century. This document mentions individuals with the surname Zollner.
In the 13th century, records from the city of Augsburg in Bavaria mention a merchant named Heinrich Zollner, who was involved in the lucrative textile trade. This indicates that the Zoeller name had already established itself among the merchant and trading classes by this time.
During the 16th century, a notable individual bearing the Zoeller surname was Johannes Zöllner, a German theologian and reformer who lived from 1491 to 1548. He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and authored several works on theology and biblical interpretation.
Another historical figure with the Zoeller name was Johann Philipp Zoeller, a German composer and organist who lived from 1666 to 1726. He is known for his contributions to the development of the North German organ school and his compositions for organ and other instruments.
In the 19th century, Johann Baptist Zoeller (1782-1848) was a German sculptor and educator who worked in the neoclassical style. He is particularly known for his sculptures adorning the Walhalla memorial near Regensburg, Bavaria.
The name Zoeller has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Zöllnitz, a town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and Zöllnerhof, a village in Bavaria. These place names likely originated from the presence of tollbooths or customs houses in those locations.
While the Zoeller surname is predominantly found in Germany, it has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora, particularly to countries like the United States, where many German immigrants settled in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Zoeller
Among Census respondents with the surname Zoeller, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Zoeller 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 Zoeller surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.2% · 1,741
- Two or more races2.8% · 51
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
- Black or African American0.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Zoeller
Zoeller 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
#15,033
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,965
+112 bearers (+6.0%)
Per 100,000 0.67
Rank movement Down 327 places
2020
#15,290
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,849
-116 bearers (-5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.62
Rank movement Down 257 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,706 | 1,853 | 0.69 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #15,033 | 1,965 | 0.67 | +112 bearers (+6.0%) | Down 327 places |
| 2020 | #15,290 | 1,849 | 0.62 | -116 bearers (-5.9%) | Down 257 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 Zoeller 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 | #15,033 | #15,290 | -1.7% |
| Count | 1,965 | 1,849 | -5.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.67 | 0.62 | -7.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Zoeller bearers went from 1,965 to 1,849 (-5.9% change). The surname moved down 257 positions in the national ranking, going from #15,033 to #15,290.
FAQ
Zoeller surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Zoeller?
Name Census estimates that about 2,120 living Americans carry the surname Zoeller. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 161,677 residents.
How common is Zoeller?
Zoeller ranks #15,290 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.62 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 1,849 people with the surname Zoeller. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,120), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.62 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.62 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 Zoeller.
Has Zoeller become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Zoeller went from 1,965 recorded bearers to 1,849. That is a decrease of 116 (-5.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #15,033 to #15,290.
What does the Census say about the background of Zoeller?
Among Census respondents with the surname Zoeller, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (1.8%). 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 Zoeller in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (1,741 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Zoeller appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.2%), Two or More Races (2.8%), Hispanic (1.8%). 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 Zoeller (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 Zoeller mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a toll collector or customs official. 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 Zoeller (0.62 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 Zoeller?
Want to know how many people have the surname Zoeller? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.