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

Barth, 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 Barth surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Barth in America

Barth is the 2474th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Barth surname appeared 14,579 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 Barth.

We can also compare 2010 data for Barth 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 Barth

The surname Barth originated in Germany, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the Germanic word "bardo," meaning "axe" or "halberd." This suggests that the name may have initially been an occupational name for someone who made or wielded axes or halberds.

In the 11th century, the name Barth appeared in records from the Duchy of Swabia, a medieval duchy that covered present-day southwestern Germany and parts of Switzerland. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Rudiger Barth, a knight mentioned in a chronicle from the year 1087.

The Barth name can also be traced back to various German placenames, such as Barth, a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Barthen, a village in Saxony-Anhalt. These place names likely originated from the same Germanic root word "bardo."

In the 13th century, the Barth surname appeared in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from the region of Mecklenburg. This suggests that the name had spread to northern Germany by this time.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Barth name in England can be found in the Norfolk Pipe Rolls of 1275, which mention a certain Johannes Barth. This indicates that the name had begun to spread beyond Germany by the late Middle Ages.

Notable individuals with the surname Barth throughout history include:

1. Jakob Barth (1600-1686), a German theologian and philosopher.
2. Caspar von Barth (1587-1658), a German diplomat and writer.
3. Christian Gerhard Barth (1768-1838), a German jurist and statesman.
4. Karl Heinrich Barth (1847-1922), a German theologian and father of the influential Swiss theologian Karl Barth.
5. Karl Barth (1886-1968), a Swiss Reformed theologian and one of the most influential Christian thinkers of the 20th century.

The Barth surname has a rich history rooted in medieval Germany and has since spread to various parts of Europe and beyond. Its origins as an occupational name and its connections to various German place names reflect the diverse linguistic and cultural influences that have shaped this surname over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Barth

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

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

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

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