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

Berg, 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 Berg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Berg in America

Berg is the 712th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Berg surname appeared 48,746 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 17 people would have the surname Berg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Berg 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 Berg

The surname "BERG" is of Germanic and Scandinavian origin, derived from the Old Norse and Old German words "bergr" or "berg", meaning "hill" or "mountain". It is a topographic name, referring to someone who lived near or on a hill or mountain.

The name can be traced back to the early medieval period, with records of the name appearing in various regions of present-day Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. One of the earliest known references to the name is found in the Landnámabók, a medieval Icelandic manuscript detailing the settlement of Iceland in the 9th and 10th centuries, where it mentions several individuals with the surname Berg or variants like Bergsson.

In Germany, the surname Berg is found in records as early as the 12th century, such as in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony. Notable individuals with this surname from this period include Johann Berg (c. 1350-1420), a German theologian and rector of the University of Leipzig.

The Domesday Book, a survey of land and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain any direct references to the surname Berg. However, it does mention several place names with the element "berg", suggesting the presence of people living near hills or mountains in England at the time.

In Sweden, the surname Berg can be traced back to the 14th century, with records of individuals such as Jöns Berg (c. 1320-1385), a Swedish statesman and member of the Privy Council of Sweden. Other notable Swedish individuals with the surname include Peder Berg (1629-1692), a Swedish politician and governor of Stockholm, and Eva Berg (1923-2008), a renowned Swedish actress.

In Norway, the surname Berg is also found in medieval records, with individuals like Erling Berg (c. 1300-1370), a Norwegian nobleman and military leader during the Norwegian Civil War. Another notable Norwegian with this surname is Johan Berg (1901-1970), a novelist and playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928.

Other notable individuals with the surname Berg throughout history include Alban Berg (1885-1935), an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School, and Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982), the Swedish actress who starred in several classic films, including Casablanca and Gaslight.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Berg

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

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

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

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