Explore the Family Name Puff

The meaning of Puff

German: 1. nickname for a violent, aggressive person, from buff ‘push, shove’. 2. from a pet form of a personal name, Bodefrit, composed with Old High German biutan ‘to bid or order’ or boto ‘messenger’. 3. possibly an altered form of Pfaff or Buff 1, 2. Some characteristic forenames: German Kurt, Bernhardt, Erwin, Hans, Heinz.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Puff has seen a decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. Ranked at 22,723 in 2000, it dropped to 26,833 in 2010, marking an 18.09% change. The overall count of people with this surname also decreased by 14.12%, going from 1,055 to 906 individuals. The proportion of this surname per 100k people fell by 20.51%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#22,723	#26,833	-18.09%
Count	1,055	906	-14.12%
Proportion per 100k	0.39	0.31	-20.51%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Puff

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Puff, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data, shows some changes between 2000 and 2010. While the majority identified as White (94.12% in 2000 to 94.59% in 2010), there was a slight increase in those identifying as two or more races, from 1.14% to 1.43%. There was also a small emergence of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander in 2010 that was not present in 2000. However, the percentage of individuals identifying as Black decreased notably from 3.13% to 1.88%. There were no individuals who identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year, and the Hispanic category dropped to zero in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.12%	94.59%	0.5%
Black	3.13%	1.88%	-39.94%
Two or More Races	1.14%	1.43%	25.44%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	1.32%	0%
Hispanic	1.23%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%