Find out how popular the last name Abner is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Abner.

Abner, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Abner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Abner in America

Abner is the 6143rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Abner surname appeared 5,577 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Abner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Abner to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Abner

The surname ABNER is of Hebrew origin, derived from the biblical name Abner, which means "father of light" or "father is a light". It is believed to have originated in ancient Israel during the time of the Old Testament.

The name Abner is mentioned several times in the Bible, most notably as the name of the commander-in-chief of Saul's army and a cousin of King Saul. Abner played a significant role in the power struggles between Saul and David, initially supporting Ishbosheth, Saul's son, as the successor to the throne, but later defecting to David's side.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname ABNER can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry "Abner de Burg" is listed as a landholder in Lincolnshire.

In the 12th century, a prominent figure named Abner of Burgos, also known as Alfonso of Burgos or Alfonso of Valladolid, was a Spanish Jewish scholar and philosopher who converted to Christianity and became a Christian polemicist and missionary.

During the English Civil War in the 17th century, Colonel Abner Dyer was a Roundhead officer who fought for the Parliamentarian forces against King Charles I. He was born in 1597 and died in 1670.

In the 18th century, Abner Nash (1716-1786) was a colonial leader and soldier from North Carolina who served as the governor of the state from 1780 to 1781 during the American Revolutionary War.

Another notable bearer of the surname was Abner Doubleday (1819-1893), a United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He is often credited, though controversially, with inventing the modern game of baseball.

The ABNER surname has also been associated with various place names and their older spellings, such as Abnerbury, Abnerton, and Abnersham, which were likely derived from individuals bearing the name who lived in or were associated with those locations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Abner

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Abner.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Abner was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Abner has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Abner was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Abner, please contact us.

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