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

Brahms, 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 Brahms surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Brahms in America

Brahms is the 79846th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Brahms surname appeared 238 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 Brahms.

We can also compare 2010 data for Brahms 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 Brahms

The surname BRAHMS is of German origin, deriving from the Low German word "brahm" which means "bramble bush." It is believed to have originated in the 14th or 15th century in the northern regions of Germany, particularly in areas such as Lower Saxony and Westphalia.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the late 15th century in various historical documents and records. One notable example is the mention of a Heinrich Brahms in a land register from the town of Lüneburg, dated 1487.

The name is thought to have been initially used as a descriptive surname, indicating that the original bearer lived near or was associated with bramble bushes. Over time, it became a hereditary surname passed down through generations.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name appeared in various forms, including Brahms, Brams, and Bräms, reflecting regional variations in spelling and pronunciation. One of the earliest known individuals with this surname was Johann Brahms, a Protestant theologian and clergyman born in 1592 in the town of Herzberg am Harz.

As the Brahms family spread across different regions of Germany, the name became associated with certain places, leading to the formation of locational surnames such as Braunschweig-Brahms and Brabant-Brahms.

One of the most famous bearers of the BRAHMS surname was the renowned German composer and pianist Johannes Brahms, born in 1833 in Hamburg. His contributions to the Romantic era of classical music were significant, with works like his symphonies, concertos, and chamber music earning him a place among the greatest composers of all time.

Other notable individuals with the BRAHMS surname include Karl Ferdinand Brahms, a German jurist and legal scholar born in 1807, and Otto Brahm, a German literary critic and theater director born in 1856. In the field of science, Johannes Brahms, a German biologist and botanist born in 1884, made significant contributions to the study of plant physiology.

While the surname BRAHMS originated in northern Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and immigration. However, its roots can be traced back to the Low German regions, where it emerged as a descriptive surname reflecting the landscape and environment of the time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Brahms

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

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

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

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