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

Confer, 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 Confer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Confer in America

Confer is the 8951st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Confer surname appeared 3,657 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Confer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Confer 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 Confer

The surname Confer is believed to have originated in Germany, specifically in the region of Bavaria, during the medieval period. It is derived from the German word "koner," meaning a trader or merchant. This suggests that the name was likely adopted by individuals involved in the trading profession.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Confer can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from the 13th century, where a certain "Johannes Confer" is mentioned as a witness to a legal transaction in the town of Nürnberg in 1271.

The Confer name also appears in the Nürnberger Bürgerbuch, a register of citizens in the city of Nuremberg, where a "Cunrat Confer" is listed as a resident in 1397. This record provides evidence of the name's presence in the region during the late Middle Ages.

During the 16th century, the name Confer was prevalent in the town of Memmingen, located in the Bavarian region of Swabia. Notable individuals with this surname from that time include Hans Confer (1510-1585), a respected goldsmith and member of the town council, and his son, Matthias Confer (1547-1613), who served as a parish priest in the nearby village of Ottobeuren.

In the 17th century, the Confer name gained prominence in the city of Augsburg, where a family of prominent merchants and bankers bearing this surname resided. One of the most notable figures was Johann Jakob Confer (1638-1702), a wealthy merchant and philanthropist who contributed significantly to the city's development.

Another notable individual with the surname Confer was Johann Philipp Confer (1725-1799), a renowned architect from Mannheim who designed several notable buildings in the region, including the Mannheim Palace and the Basilica of the Assumption in Heidelberg.

Throughout its history, the Confer surname has maintained a strong presence in various regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria and the surrounding areas. While the name has evolved and spread to other parts of the world, its origins can be traced back to the medieval German traders and merchants who adopted it as a means of identification.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Confer

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

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

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