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

Anders, 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 Anders surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Anders in America

Anders is the 2343rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Anders surname appeared 15,554 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Anders.

We can also compare 2010 data for Anders 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 Anders

The surname Anders has its origins in Scandinavia, particularly in Sweden and Denmark. It is derived from the Old Norse word "Andres," which is a variant of the name Andreas, meaning "manly" or "brave." The surname is believed to have emerged in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.

In Sweden, the name Anders was commonly used as a given name before it became a surname. It gained popularity as a surname during the late medieval period, when it was adopted by families to differentiate themselves from others with the same given name. The earliest recorded instances of the surname Anders can be found in Swedish church records dating back to the 16th century.

One notable example of the name's historical significance is Anders Celsius, the Swedish astronomer and physicist who developed the Celsius temperature scale. He was born in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1701 and died in 1744. Another famous bearer of the surname was Anders Zorn, a renowned Swedish painter and etcher who lived from 1860 to 1920.

In Denmark, the surname Anders also has a long history, with records dating back to the 15th century. One of the earliest known individuals with the surname was Anders Pedersen, a Danish clergyman who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He was known for his work in translating parts of the Bible into Danish.

The surname Anders has also been associated with various place names in Scandinavia. For instance, the town of Anderslöv in southern Sweden is believed to have derived its name from the Old Norse word "Andres" combined with the word "löv," meaning "grove" or "thicket."

Other notable individuals with the surname Anders throughout history include Anders Björk, a Swedish botanist and explorer who lived from 1734 to 1777; Anders Dahl, a Swedish physician and botanist who lived from 1751 to 1789; and Anders Fryxell, a Swedish historian and writer who lived from 1795 to 1881.

While the surname Anders has its roots in Scandinavia, it has since spread to other parts of the world, carried by immigrants and their descendants. However, its origins and historical significance remain deeply rooted in the Nordic countries, where it has been a prominent surname for centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Anders

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

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

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

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