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

Eisner, 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 Eisner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Eisner in America

Eisner is the 9830th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Eisner surname appeared 3,294 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 Eisner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Eisner 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 Eisner

The surname Eisner originated in Germany, likely in the late Middle Ages or Early Modern period. It derives from the German word "Eisen," meaning iron, and may have referred to an early ancestor's occupation as an ironworker or blacksmith.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the 14th century, when a person named Nikolaus Eisner was mentioned in records from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria. This suggests the name was already established in that region by that time.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname appears in various German records and manuscripts, such as tax rolls, guild registers, and church documents. Notable bearers from this era include Hans Eisner (1530-1602), a master carpenter from Nuremberg, and Anna Eisner (1584-1638), a midwife from Leipzig.

As the name spread across German-speaking regions, it took on various spellings and variants, such as Eysner, Eisener, and Eisenmann, reflecting local dialects and scribal variations.

In the 19th century, the Eisner surname gained prominence through figures like Michael Eisner (1842-1912), a renowned Bavarian poet and playwright. Another notable bearer was Kurt Eisner (1867-1919), a German revolutionary and politician who briefly served as the first republican prime minister of Bavaria after World War I.

Other historical figures with the Eisner surname include Will Eisner (1917-2005), an American cartoonist and writer who is considered a pioneer of the graphic novel form, and Michael D. Eisner (born 1942), the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 to 2005.

Although the name originated in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world through emigration, with Eisner families found in countries like the United States, Canada, and Israel.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Eisner

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

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

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