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

Auerbach, 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 Auerbach surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Auerbach in America

Auerbach is the 10751st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Auerbach surname appeared 2,968 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Auerbach.

We can also compare 2010 data for Auerbach 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 Auerbach

The surname Auerbach is of German origin and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German words "auer," meaning meadow or pasture, and "bach," meaning stream or brook. Thus, Auerbach refers to a place name, likely a settlement near a stream flowing through a meadow.

The name first appears in historical records from the 13th century, including mentions in the tax rolls of various German towns and villages. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Heinrich Auerbach, a merchant from the town of Auerbach in Bavaria, who lived in the late 1200s.

In the 14th century, the Auerbach name is found in the Codex Manesse, a famous medieval manuscript containing works of Middle High German lyric poetry. This suggests that individuals with this surname were part of the cultural elite during that time period.

By the 15th century, the Auerbach name had spread throughout Germany and neighboring regions. Notable bearers include Johannes Auerbach, a scholar and theologian from Saxony who lived from 1445 to 1514, and Hans Auerbach, a merchant and councilman in the city of Nuremberg in the late 1400s.

In the 16th century, the Auerbach family established itself as prominent figures in the German Jewish community. One of the most well-known members was Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, a renowned Talmudic scholar who lived from 1515 to 1587.

Over the centuries, the Auerbach name has been associated with various professions, including merchants, scholars, rabbis, and artists. One of the most famous bearers of the name was the German-American writer and philosopher Berthold Auerbach, who lived from 1812 to 1882 and was a prominent figure in the literary movement known as Dorfgeschichten (village tales).

Other notable individuals with the Auerbach surname include the German mathematician and philosopher Felix Auerbach (1856-1933), the American philosopher and logician Walter Auerbach (1905-1975), and the German-American mathematician and computer scientist Maurice Auerbacher (1919-2019).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Auerbach

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

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

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

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