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

Berwald, 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 Berwald surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Berwald in America

Berwald is the 53419th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Berwald surname appeared 387 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Berwald.

We can also compare 2010 data for Berwald 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 Berwald

The surname Berwald is of German origin, and it first emerged in the region of Bavaria during the medieval period. The name is derived from the Old German words "bero," meaning bear, and "wald," meaning forest, suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name likely lived near or worked in a forested area inhabited by bears.

Berwald is a locational surname, indicating that it originated from a specific place or region. It is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive name to identify individuals who resided near a wooded area known for its bear population.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Berwald can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. The name is spelled as "Berenwalde" in this record.

In the 14th century, a variant spelling of the name, "Berenwalt," appeared in the Heidelberg Codex, a medieval manuscript from the city of Heidelberg in southwestern Germany.

Notable individuals with the surname Berwald throughout history include:

1. Franz Berwald (1796-1868), a Swedish Romantic composer and violinist, known for his symphonies and chamber music.
2. Johann Friedrich Berwald (1718-1769), a German architect and painter, best known for his work on the Frauenkirche in Dresden.
3. Karl Berwald (1847-1925), a German mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of algebraic functions.
4. Theodor Berwald (1858-1935), a Swedish politician and journalist who served as the Prime Minister of Sweden from 1919 to 1920.
5. Olga Berwald (1887-1961), a German writer and novelist, known for her works exploring themes of love, family, and societal issues.

The surname Berwald has also been associated with various place names throughout Germany, such as Berwalden, a town in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and Berwaldstetten, a municipality in the state of Baden-Württemberg. These place names likely originated from the same linguistic roots as the surname, reflecting the historical presence of forested areas inhabited by bears.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Berwald

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

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

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

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