2000
#2,112
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 15,761
First available Census row
Per 100,000 5.84
Uncommon Last name
Dietrich
A Germanic surname referring to a ruler or leader of the people, derived from "diet" meaning "people" and "rich" meaning "ruler."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 17,700 Americans carry the last name Dietrich. That puts it at #2,302 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.16 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 19,365 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dietrich 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 Dietrich with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
18K
1 in 19,365
Census rank
#2,302
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
15K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 15,435 bearers of the surname Dietrich in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.16 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2302nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dietrich, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dietrich
The surname Dietrich is of German origin, derived from the Germanic personal name Theodoric, which is composed of the elements "theud" meaning "people" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "power". It is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 9th or 10th century.
The name Dietrich was initially concentrated in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. It was also prevalent in parts of Switzerland and Austria. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval documents and records from these areas.
One of the most notable early references to the name Dietrich is in the Nibelungenlied, a Middle High German epic poem composed around the 13th century. The protagonist, Dietrich von Bern, is a heroic figure based on the historical Theodoric the Great, the king of the Ostrogoths who ruled in the 5th and 6th centuries.
In the 11th century, a German monk named Dietrich von Apolda wrote a treatise on the education of children, which became influential in medieval pedagogy. Another prominent figure was Dietrich von Nieheim, a 14th-century German churchman and historian who wrote extensively about the Great Schism in the Catholic Church.
During the 16th century, the name gained further recognition due to Dietrich of Berne, a legendary German hero and the subject of various folk tales and ballads. Around the same time, Dietrich Buxtehude, a renowned German-Danish organist and composer, was born in 1637 and made significant contributions to the development of the German Baroque style.
In the 19th century, Dietrich Eckart, a German writer and philosopher born in 1868, played a prominent role in the early years of the Nazi Party. On a more positive note, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and theologian born in 1906, became a leading figure in the Confessing Church's resistance against the Nazi regime and was eventually executed for his involvement in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
Throughout history, the name Dietrich has been associated with various places and regions, including Dietrichsdorf, a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and Dietrich, a city in Idaho, United States, named after the German-American entrepreneur William Dietrich.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dietrich
Among Census respondents with the surname Dietrich, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Dietrich 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 Dietrich surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.6% · 14,139
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 532
- Two or more races3.1% · 484
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 124
- Black or African American0.8% · 120
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 36
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dietrich
Dietrich 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
#2,291
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 15,904
+143 bearers (+0.9%)
Per 100,000 5.39
Rank movement Down 179 places
2020
#2,302
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 15,435
-469 bearers (-2.9%)
Per 100,000 5.16
Rank movement Down 11 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,112 | 15,761 | 5.84 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,291 | 15,904 | 5.39 | +143 bearers (+0.9%) | Down 179 places |
| 2020 | #2,302 | 15,435 | 5.16 | -469 bearers (-2.9%) | Down 11 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 Dietrich 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 | #2,291 | #2,302 | -0.5% |
| Count | 15,904 | 15,435 | -2.9% |
| Per 100K | 5.39 | 5.16 | -4.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dietrich bearers went from 15,904 to 15,435 (-2.9% change). The surname moved down 11 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,291 to #2,302.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Dietrich
FAQ
Dietrich surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dietrich?
Name Census estimates that about 17,700 living Americans carry the surname Dietrich. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 19,365 residents.
How common is Dietrich?
Dietrich ranks #2,302 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.16 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 15,435 people with the surname Dietrich. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (17,700), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.16 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.16 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Dietrich.
Has Dietrich become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dietrich went from 15,904 recorded bearers to 15,435. That is a decrease of 469 (-2.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,291 to #2,302.
What does the Census say about the background of Dietrich?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dietrich, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Dietrich in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.6% (14,139 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dietrich appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.6%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Dietrich (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 Dietrich mean?
A Germanic surname referring to a ruler or leader of the people, derived from "diet" meaning "people" and "rich" meaning "ruler." 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 Dietrich (5.16 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 Americans have the surname Dietrich?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.