How common is the surname Kolbe?

1,906 people in the United States had the surname Kolbe in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 161,986 Americans. It ranked 15,386th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Kolbe?

Winrich Kolbe, American film director, followed by Jim Kolbe.

Where is the surname Kolbe most common?

Wikidata records people named Kolbe in the United States and Germany.

Is the surname Kolbe getting more or less common?

More common. 1,813 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,906 in 2010, up 5.1%.

The surname Kolbe

A surname, carried by 1,906 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex K410

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kolbe is more common than 90.5% of them.

Origin

From the German surname, variant of Kolb.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,906 people named Kolbe in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 161,986 Americans. That is up 5.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,813.

#15,386

rank among US surnames

1,906

people in 2010

0.7

per 100,000 Americans

+5.1%

change since 2000 (was #14,958)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#15,380	Tolleson	1,907	161,901
#15,386	Leet	1,906	161,986
#15,391	Milliman	1,905	162,071

Who is named Kolbe

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

96% of people named Kolbe identified as white (not Hispanic), 1.4% as two or more races and 1.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 96%
Two or more races 1.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kolbes

3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Winrich Kolbe
American film director, 1940–2012
Jim Kolbe
American politician (1942–2022)
Peter Kolbe
Astronomer (1675-1726) in South Africa

Notable Kolbes come mostly from the United States (2) and Germany (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Kolbe

Kolb

Kolbe has the Soundex code K410, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K410.

Questions

Where does the surname Kolbe come from?: From the German surname, variant of Kolb.
How common is the surname Kolbe?: 1,906 people in the United States had the surname Kolbe in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 161,986 Americans. It ranked 15,386th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kolbe?: In the 2010 Census, 96% of people named Kolbe identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.4% as two or more races.
Who is the most famous person named Kolbe?: Winrich Kolbe, American film director, followed by Jim Kolbe.
Where is the surname Kolbe most common?: Wikidata records people named Kolbe in the United States and Germany.
Is the surname Kolbe getting more or less common?: More common. 1,813 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,906 in 2010, up 5.1%.