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

Doniger, 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 Doniger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Doniger in America

Doniger is the 102197th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Doniger surname appeared 176 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 Doniger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Doniger 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 Doniger

The surname DONIGER is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the town of Donaueschingen in the Black Forest region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name is derived from the German words "Donau" meaning "Danube" and "Eschingen," an old place name.

In its earliest known form, the name was spelled as "Donaueschinger," reflecting its connection to the town's name. Over time, this evolved into various spellings like "Doniger," "Donegar," and "Donegger" as families migrated and settled in different regions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the church records of Donaueschingen, where a certain Hans Donaueschinger was mentioned in 1586. Another notable early reference is in the Codex Diplomaticus Alemanniae, a collection of historical documents from the region, which includes a mention of a Johann Donaueschinger in 1612.

In the 17th century, the name appears in the records of the town of Villingen, located near Donaueschingen, where a family with the surname DONIGER is documented as having lived. This suggests that some members of the family had already adopted the shortened spelling by that time.

One of the earliest known DONIGER individuals was Johann Michael DONIGER, born in 1692 in Villingen. He was a prominent local merchant and landowner, and his descendants carried on the family name in the region.

Another notable figure from history was Friedrich Wilhelm DONIGER (1777-1838), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits.

In the 19th century, the surname spread more widely across Germany and into neighboring countries as families migrated. One example is Albert DONIGER (1858-1921), an Austrian painter and illustrator known for his landscapes and portraiture.

The name also found its way to the United States, with one of the earliest recorded instances being that of Johann DONIGER (1822-1904), who immigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s and worked as a farmer.

Another prominent individual with the DONIGER surname was Wendy DONIGER (1941-present), an American Indologist and scholar of Hinduism, who has authored numerous books and academic works on the subject.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Doniger

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

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

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

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