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

Baer, 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 Baer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Baer in America

Baer is the 2192nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Baer surname appeared 16,587 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Baer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Baer 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 Baer

The surname Baer has its origins in Germany and is a derivative of the German word "Bär," which translates to "bear" in English. This name likely emerged in the Middle Ages as a descriptive surname, given to individuals who bore a resemblance to a bear or possessed bear-like qualities.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Baer can be found in the German town of Bärenburg, which dates back to the 13th century. This place name suggests that the surname may have originated from a location associated with bears or bear hunting.

In the 14th century, the name Baer appeared in various historical records, including the Württembergisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of documents from the former state of Württemberg in Germany. This indicates that the surname was well-established by that time.

During the 16th century, the Baer surname gained prominence with notable individuals such as Johannes Baer (1515-1596), a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Another prominent figure was Johann Baer (1592-1669), a German mathematician and astronomer.

In the 18th century, Johann Jakob Baer (1701-1758) was a Swiss painter and etcher known for his landscape and architectural works. Around the same time, Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876) was a renowned Estonian embryologist and biologist who made significant contributions to the study of embryology and geography.

Moving into the 19th century, Georg Baer (1831-1892) was a German-American brewer who founded the Baer Brewing Company in Los Angeles, California, which became one of the largest breweries in the region.

Throughout its history, the Baer surname has been associated with various spellings, including Bär, Bär, Baehr, and Behr, reflecting regional variations and linguistic influences. These variations highlight the rich tapestry of cultural and linguistic diversity that has shaped the evolution of surnames over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Baer

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Baer, 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!