2010
#150,452
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 109
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Vonnegut
German surname derived from Old High German meaning "forest and meadow".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Vonnegut. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Vonnegut 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Vonnegut in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Vonnegut, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Vonnegut
The surname Vonnegut is of German origin, and it can be traced back to the 16th century in the region of present-day Bavaria, Germany. The name is believed to derive from the Old German words "fon" (from) and "Negut" (a village or place name), suggesting that the family originated from a place called Negut.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vonnegut can be found in the records of the city of Münnerstadt in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, where a certain Clemens Vonnegut was mentioned in 1571. Another early reference is from 1625, when a Hans Vonnegut was listed as a resident of the village of Gochsheim, near Schweinfurt, in the Franconian region of Bavaria.
In the 17th century, some members of the Vonnegut family migrated to different parts of Germany, including the city of Dresden in Saxony, where a Johann Vonnegut was recorded as a citizen in 1672. Around the same time, the name also appeared in the records of the city of Nuremberg, in the form of "Vonneguth."
One of the most notable individuals bearing the surname Vonnegut was Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), an American writer and satirist who gained fame for novels such as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle." He was the grandson of German immigrants who had settled in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the late 19th century.
Other notable figures with the Vonnegut surname include:
1. Johann Vonnegut (1824-1899), a German-American tinsmith and hardware merchant who founded the Vonnegut Hardware Company in Indianapolis.
2. Bernard Vonnegut (1855-1908), an American architect and businessman, son of Johann Vonnegut.
3. Albert Vonnegut (1858-1914), an American businessman and brother of Bernard Vonnegut.
4. Kurt Vonnegut Sr. (1884-1957), an American architect and the father of the writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
5. Norbert Vonnegut (1899-1959), an American meteorologist and brother of Kurt Vonnegut Sr.
The Vonnegut name has a long and rich history, dating back to its German roots in the 16th century. While the family's origins can be traced to a specific place in Bavaria, the name has since spread across the world, with notable bearers in various fields, particularly in the United States.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vonnegut
Among Census respondents with the surname Vonnegut, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Vonnegut 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 Vonnegut surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino13.4% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Vonnegut
Vonnegut 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
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
+3 bearers (+2.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 2,498 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #150,452 | 109 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | +3 bearers (+2.8%) | Up 2,498 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 Vonnegut 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 | #150,452 | #147,954 | 1.7% |
| Count | 109 | 112 | 2.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -6.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Vonnegut bearers went from 109 to 112 (+2.8% change). The surname moved up 2,498 positions in the national ranking, going from #150,452 to #147,954.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Vonnegut
FAQ
Vonnegut surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Vonnegut?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Vonnegut. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Vonnegut?
Vonnegut ranks #147,954 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 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 112 people with the surname Vonnegut. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 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 Vonnegut.
Has Vonnegut become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Vonnegut went from 109 recorded bearers to 112. That is an increase of 3 (+2.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #150,452 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Vonnegut?
Among Census respondents with the surname Vonnegut, the largest self-reported group is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Vonnegut in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (96 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Vonnegut appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (85.7%), Hispanic (13.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (0.9%). 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 Vonnegut (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 Vonnegut mean?
German surname derived from Old High German meaning "forest and meadow". 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 Vonnegut (0.04 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 surname Vonnegut?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.