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

Altenburg, 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 Altenburg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Altenburg in America

Altenburg is the 27081st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Altenburg surname appeared 894 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Altenburg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Altenburg 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 Altenburg

The surname Altenburg is of German origin, derived from the name of a town in eastern Germany, Altenburg. The name Altenburg itself is made up of two components: "alt," meaning "old," and "burg," meaning "castle" or "fortified town." This suggests that the name may have originated from someone living in or near the town of Altenburg, which dates back to the 10th century.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Altenburg can be traced back to the 13th century in various German records and manuscripts. One notable example is the mention of a Conrad von Altenburg in the Annals of Quedlinburg, a medieval chronicle from the 11th-13th centuries.

During the Middle Ages, the name Altenburg was associated with nobility and landowners in the region around the town of Altenburg. In the 16th century, a prominent figure named Georg Altenburg (1486-1548) was a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of cartography.

Another historical figure with the surname Altenburg was Johann Ernst Altenburg (1735-1806), a German composer and organist who was known for his contributions to the development of the sonata form in the late Baroque period.

In the 19th century, Carl Altenburg (1819-1889) was a German-American cartographer and surveyor who played a crucial role in mapping the American West during the westward expansion of the United States.

A notable figure in the 20th century was Maria Altenburg (1898-1976), a German actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions during the Weimar Republic and Nazi era in Germany.

It is worth noting that variations of the spelling, such as Altenburgh, Altenborg, and Althenburg, were also used in historical records, reflecting regional dialects and orthographic conventions of the time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Altenburg

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

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 Altenburg 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 Altenburg 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 Altenburg was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!