The Hofer surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,682 people carried this name — #4,617 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 38,500 people counted. That is down 7% from 8,283 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Hofer surname
From Hof + -er.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Hofer» (German), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
9,285 people named Hofer live in Switzerland.
They live in all 26 of Switzerland’s cantons, most of all in Bern.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 288 people named Hofer live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Santa Fe.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 259 people named Hofer.
86 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 26 départements, most often Haut-Rhin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
90 people named Hofer have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 181 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 8 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Łódź.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
142 people named Hofer is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Hofer in American newspapers,
1867–1925.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 44,013 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Hofer,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Andreas Hofer 1767–1810 · farmer -
Károly Hofer 1792–1867 · trader -
Josef Hofer 1871–1947 · writer -
Karl Hofer 1878–1955 · illustrator -
Franz Hofer 1882–1945 · screenwriter
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 169 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Hofer.
- Hoenig 840 · U.S. census
- Hoermann 287 · U.S. census
- Hoerner 2,070 · U.S. census
- Hoerter 354 · U.S. census
- Hoerth 325 · U.S. census
- Hof 848 · U.S. census
- Hoff 17,223 · U.S. census
- Hoffart 975 · U.S. census
- Hoffarth 632 · U.S. census
- Hoffbeck 195 · U.S. census
- Hoffer 5,969 · U.S. census
- Hoffert 1,771 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Hofer is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.