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

Born, 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 Born surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Born in America

Born is the 5168th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Born surname appeared 6,771 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Born.

We can also compare 2010 data for Born 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 Born

The surname Born is of German origin and is believed to have originated in the medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is derived from the German word "Born," which means "well" or "spring," and may have initially referred to someone who lived near a well or spring.

The name is first recorded in various German records and documents from the 14th century, such as the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of official documents from the Margraviate of Brandenburg. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Johann Born, mentioned in a document from 1342 in the town of Nuremberg.

As the name spread throughout Germany, it developed different spellings and variations, including Borne, Bornemann, and Borner. These variations often reflected regional dialects and the influence of local scribes who recorded names based on their pronunciation.

The name Born is also associated with several notable historical figures. One such figure is the German composer and musician, Johann Born (1677-1748), known for his contributions to the development of the bassoon and his compositions for wind instruments.

Another prominent individual with the surname Born was the Prussian mineralogist and geologist, Ignaz Edler von Born (1742-1791), who made significant contributions to the study of mineralogy and was a pioneering figure in the field of crystallography.

In the 19th century, the German mathematician and physicist, Gustav Born (1851-1900), gained recognition for his work in the field of fluid dynamics and the study of turbulence. He is particularly known for the Born equation, which describes the motion of a particle in a fluid.

The surname Born has also been associated with places and geographical locations. For example, the town of Born in the Netherlands is named after a stream that runs through the area, reflecting the original meaning of the name.

Throughout history, the surname Born has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including artists, scientists, musicians, and scholars, reflecting the widespread distribution and long-standing presence of this name across German-speaking regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Born

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

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

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