The Pfeifer surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 10,109 people carried this name — #3,533 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 29,200 people counted. That is up 1% from 9,963 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Pfeifer surname
From the German and Jewish surname, spelling variant of Pfeiffer.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Pfeifer» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
405 people named Pfeifer live in Switzerland.
They live in 18 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
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 Poland’s population register
339 people named Pfeifer have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 461 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 14 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Silesian.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere 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 Argentina’s national register
At least 256 people named Pfeifer 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 Buenos Aires Province.
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 162 people named Pfeifer.
43 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 18 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In the Nordic population registers
53 people named Pfeifer 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
Pfeifer in American newspapers,
1896–1916.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 23,078 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Pfeifer,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Emil Pfeifer 1806–1889 · entrepreneur -
Jan Pfeifer d. 1814 · painter
-
Gotfrid Pfeifer 1707–1775 · monk
-
Ferdinand Friedrich Pfeifer 1759–1806 · author
-
Valentin Pfeifer 1763–1840 · merchant
-
Josef Pfeifer 1798–1862 · Catholic priest
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Pfeifer.
- Peyron 220 · U.S. census
- Peyrot 130 · U.S. census
- Pfaff 6,331 · U.S. census
- Pfalzgraf 503 · U.S. census
- Pfau 1,996 · U.S. census
- Pfeffer 4,400 · U.S. census
- Pfeiffer 13,851 · U.S. census
- Pfender 322 · U.S. census
- Pfister 5,441 · U.S. census
- Pflaum 577 · U.S. census
- Pfleger 922 · U.S. census
- Pflieger 573 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Pfeifer 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.