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

DeGraffenried, 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 DeGraffenried surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of DeGraffenried in America

DeGraffenried is the 48628th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The DeGraffenried surname appeared 434 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 DeGraffenried.

We can also compare 2010 data for DeGraffenried 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 DeGraffenried

The surname DEGRAFFENRIED originates from Germany and Switzerland, dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old German words "de" meaning "the" and "graffen" meaning "count" or "governor," combined with the suffix "ried" indicating a riparian area or marshland. This suggests that the name may have referred to someone residing near a count's marshlands or governing a marshy region.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name DEGRAFFENRIED can be found in the 1550 census records of Bern, Switzerland, where several families bearing this surname were documented. The spelling variations at the time included "Degraffenriedt" and "Degraffenried."

In the 17th century, a notable figure named Christopher de Graffenried (1661-1743) was a Swiss-German nobleman and founder of the town of New Bern, North Carolina. He led a group of Swiss and German settlers to the American colonies in 1710, establishing the first permanent Swiss settlement in the New World.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Baron Christoph von Graffenried (1628-1719), a Swiss diplomat and military leader who served as the Governor of Yverdon and played a crucial role in the Peasants' War of 1653 in Switzerland.

The DEGRAFFENRIED name also appeared in historical records of the Holy Roman Empire, such as the 1598 Reichskammergerichtsordnung (Imperial Chamber Court Ordinance), where a certain Johann von Degraffenried was mentioned as a judge.

In the 18th century, a man named Franz Ludwig Michel Degraffenried (1726-1782) gained recognition as a Swiss-German architect and structural engineer, known for his work on several prominent buildings in Basel, Switzerland.

Another notable figure was Johann Jakob Degraffenried (1737-1802), a Swiss politician and member of the Council of Two Hundred in Bern, who played a significant role in the Bernese Patriotic Movement during the Swiss Peasant War of 1798.

It is worth noting that the name DEGRAFFENRIED has been associated with nobility and governing positions, particularly in Switzerland and the German-speaking regions, reflecting its original meaning related to counts and marshlands.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name DeGraffenried

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

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

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

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