Mauer
A masculine German name derived from the word "Mauer" meaning "wall" or "rampart".
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Mauer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mauer today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mauer births was 2010 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mauer. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mauer. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2010
7 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2011 SSA rank
#13,631
Tracked since 2010
Popularity
Mauer: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Mauer by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mauer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Mauer
The name Mauer is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "mūre" or "mūr," which means "wall" or "rampart." It is believed to have originated as an occupational surname for someone who built or maintained walls, such as a stonemason or a builder of fortifications.
In the early Middle Ages, around the 11th to 13th centuries, the name Mauer was likely used as a descriptive nickname or byname for individuals associated with wall-building or living near a prominent wall or fortification. As surnames became more prevalent, these bynames often evolved into hereditary family names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mauer can be found in the 13th-century German chronicle "Sachsenspiegel" (Saxon Mirror), a legal code compiled by Eike von Repgow. The text mentions individuals with the surname Mauer, indicating its use at that time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the first name Mauer. One of the earliest was Mauer von Kirchheim (c. 1200-1272), a German nobleman and ministerialis (unfree knight) from the town of Kirchheim unter Teck in present-day Baden-Württemberg.
Another prominent figure was Mauer von Rothenburg (c. 1265-1330), a German poet and minnesingers (love poets) from the imperial city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. His lyrical works were highly regarded during his lifetime and contributed to the development of Middle High German literature.
In the 16th century, Mauer Kramer (c. 1510-1585) was a German Renaissance painter and engraver known for his religious works and portraits. He was active in the city of Nuremberg and is considered one of the most important artists of the Nuremberg Renaissance.
During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Mauer von Falkenstein (c. 1590-1652) was a German military commander and Imperial Field Marshal. He played a significant role in several battles and was renowned for his strategic abilities.
More recently, Mauer Baumbach (1912-1992) was a German writer and poet from the city of Merseburg. He is best known for his contributions to the literary genre of "Heimatliteratur" (regional literature) and his depictions of rural life in central Germany.
While the name Mauer has waned in popularity in modern times, it remains a part of German cultural heritage, reflecting the historical significance of wall-building and fortifications in medieval Europe.
People
Mauer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mauer as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mauer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mauer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mauer going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Mauer a common name?
We classify Mauer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mauer most popular?
The single biggest year for Mauer was 2010, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mauer is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mauer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mauer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mauer in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mauer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mauer in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mauer can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Mauer as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.