2000
#1,505
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,783
First available Census row
Per 100,000 8.07
Uncommon Last name
Winkler
One who lives in or hails from a corner or angular area, derived from the German word "winkel."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 24,212 Americans carry the last name Winkler. That puts it at #1,662 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 7.06 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 14,156 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Winkler 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 Winkler with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
24K
1 in 14,156
Census rank
#1,662
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
7.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
21K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 21,114 bearers of the surname Winkler in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 7.06 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1662nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Winkler, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Winkler
The surname Winkler originates from Germany and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is a occupational name derived from the Middle High German word "winker," meaning "corner" or "angle." This likely referred to someone who lived or worked on a corner or at an angle in a town or village.
In the 13th century, the name appeared in various records and manuscripts, often spelled as "Winckeler" or "Winkelere." One of the earliest recorded instances was in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of Saxon imperial documents from the 12th to 15th centuries.
The name Winkler was also found in the Hanseatic League records from the 14th century, indicating that individuals with this surname were involved in the trading networks of the Hanseatic cities in Northern Europe.
One notable bearer of the name was Johann Winkler, a German astronomer born in 1642 in Wormsdorf, Saxony. He made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and published several works, including "Phaenomena Cometarum" (1668) and "Astronomiae Pars" (1703).
Another prominent figure was Johann Joseph Winkler, a German chemist born in 1670 in Pfronten, Bavaria. He is credited with the discovery of the element germanium in 1886, which he initially called "germanium" after his homeland.
In the 16th century, the name Winkler was also found in various records from the Rhineland region of Germany, such as the city of Cologne. One example is Matthias Winkler, a merchant born in Cologne in 1525, whose name appears in trade records from that period.
The name Winkler can also be traced to place names in Germany, such as Winkel, a town in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and Winkelhaid, a municipality in Bavaria. These place names likely contributed to the formation of the surname in those respective regions.
Other notable individuals with the surname Winkler include August Winkler (1808-1878), a German landscape painter; Clemens Winkler (1838-1904), a German chemist known for his work on rare earth elements; and Karl Winkler (1801-1869), a German painter and lithographer.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Winkler
Among Census respondents with the surname Winkler, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Winkler 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 Winkler surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.7% · 19,140
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 685
- Two or more races3.0% · 636
- Black or African American1.8% · 373
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 183
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 97
Timeline
Historical Census data for Winkler
Winkler 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
#1,640
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,993
+210 bearers (+1.0%)
Per 100,000 7.46
Rank movement Down 135 places
2020
#1,662
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 21,114
-879 bearers (-4.0%)
Per 100,000 7.06
Rank movement Down 22 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,505 | 21,783 | 8.07 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,640 | 21,993 | 7.46 | +210 bearers (+1.0%) | Down 135 places |
| 2020 | #1,662 | 21,114 | 7.06 | -879 bearers (-4.0%) | Down 22 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 Winkler 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 | #1,640 | #1,662 | -1.3% |
| Count | 21,993 | 21,114 | -4.0% |
| Per 100K | 7.46 | 7.06 | -5.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Winkler bearers went from 21,993 to 21,114 (-4.0% change). The surname moved down 22 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,640 to #1,662.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Winkler
FAQ
Winkler surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Winkler?
Name Census estimates that about 24,212 living Americans carry the surname Winkler. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 14,156 residents.
How common is Winkler?
Winkler ranks #1,662 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 7.06 per 100,000 residents, which is about 7 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 21,114 people with the surname Winkler. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (24,212), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 7.06 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 7.06 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 7 of them to have the surname Winkler.
Has Winkler become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Winkler went from 21,993 recorded bearers to 21,114. That is a decrease of 879 (-4.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,640 to #1,662.
What does the Census say about the background of Winkler?
Among Census respondents with the surname Winkler, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Winkler in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.7% (19,140 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Winkler appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.7%), Hispanic (3.2%), Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Winkler (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 Winkler mean?
One who lives in or hails from a corner or angular area, derived from the German word "winkel." 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 Winkler (7.06 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 share the surname Winkler?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.