Explore the Family Name Heit

The meaning of Heit

German: 1. from a short form of an ancient Germanic personal name formed with heid ‘heath’ as the first element, or derived from Old High German heit ‘specimen, being, character’. 2. habitational name from a place so named, near Bremervörde in Lower Saxony.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Heit in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Heit has seen a significant decrease between 2000 and 2010. During this period, its ranking fell from 21,754 to 32,438, a change of -49.11%. In terms of count, the number of instances of the surname decreased from 1,115 to 709, a drop of -36.41%. The proportion of citizens with the Heit surname per 100,000 also saw a downward trend, falling from 0.41 to 0.24, a change of -41.46%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#21,754	#32,438	-49.11%
Count	1,115	709	-36.41%
Proportion per 100k	0.41	0.24	-41.46%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Heit

In terms of ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census shows that there were shifts in the distribution within the Heit surname bearers. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased from 0.72% to 1.27%, a growth rate of 76.39%. Individuals identifying as two or more races slightly rose from 1.17% to 1.27%, marking an increase of 8.55%. However, the percent of white individuals dropped from 95.70% to 92.38%, a decrease of 3.47%. Those of Hispanic ethnicity experienced a considerable rise from 1.52% to 4.23%, which is a whopping 178.29% increase. Interestingly, black individuals appeared in the 2010 census at 0.85%, where they were previously unrecorded in 2000. American Indian and Alaskan Natives remained at 0% for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.7%	92.38%	-3.47%
Hispanic	1.52%	4.23%	178.29%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.72%	1.27%	76.39%
Two or More Races	1.17%	1.27%	8.55%
Black	0%	0.85%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%