How common is the surname Pfeiffer?

13,851 people in the United States had the surname Pfeiffer in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 22,290 Americans. It ranked 2,601st of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Pfeiffer?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Pfeiffer identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Pfeiffer?

Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress (born 1958), followed by Ida Laura Pfeiffer.

Where is the surname Pfeiffer most common?

Wikidata records people named Pfeiffer in the United States, Habsburg monarchy and Austria.

Is the surname Pfeiffer getting more or less common?

Less common. 13,870 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,851 in 2010, down 0.1%.

The surname Pfeiffer

A German surname, carried by 13,851 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex P160

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Pfeiffer is more common than 98.4% of them.

Origin

German origin

From German Pfeiffer (literally “piper”).

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 13,851 people named Pfeiffer in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 22,290 Americans. That is about the same as in 2000, when the Census counted 13,870.

#2,601

rank among US surnames

13,851

people in 2010

4.7

per 100,000 Americans

-0.1%

change since 2000 (was #2,394)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,593	Humphreys	13,895	22,220
#2,594	Renner	13,889	22,230
#2,595	Alves	13,882	22,241
#2,596	Forrester	13,878	22,247
#2,597	Coy	13,875	22,252
#2,598	Dykes	13,874	22,254
#2,599	Branham	13,872	22,257

Who is named Pfeiffer

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

95% of people named Pfeiffer identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.3% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 95%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Two or more races 1.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Pfeiffers

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Michelle Pfeiffer
American actress (born 1958)
Ida Laura Pfeiffer
Austrian explorer and writer, editor (1797-1858)
Dedee Pfeiffer
American actress (born 1964)
Pauline Pfeiffer
American journalist (1895–1951)
Sacha Pfeiffer
American journalist, born 1971
Hady Pfeiffer
Austrian alpine skier (1906–2002)

Notable Pfeiffers come mostly from the United States (4), Habsburg monarchy (1) and Austria (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Pfeiffer

Pfeiffer has the Soundex code P160, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P160.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Pfeiffer come from?: From German Pfeiffer (literally “piper”).
How common is the surname Pfeiffer?: 13,851 people in the United States had the surname Pfeiffer in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 22,290 Americans. It ranked 2,601st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Pfeiffer?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Pfeiffer identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Pfeiffer?: Michelle Pfeiffer, American actress (born 1958), followed by Ida Laura Pfeiffer.
Where is the surname Pfeiffer most common?: Wikidata records people named Pfeiffer in the United States, Habsburg monarchy and Austria.
Is the surname Pfeiffer getting more or less common?: Less common. 13,870 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 13,851 in 2010, down 0.1%.