2010
#156,044
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Emenecker
A variant spelling of the German surname Emennegger denoting someone from Emennegg, Switzerland.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 120 Americans carry the last name Emenecker. That puts it at #152,989 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,856,286 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Emenecker surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
120
1 in 2,856,286
Census rank
#152,989
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
105
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 105 bearers of the surname Emenecker in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152989th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Emenecker, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Emenecker
The surname Emenecker is believed to have originated in Germany, with its earliest known references dating back to the late 15th century. The name is thought to be derived from the German words "Ehmen" and "Acker," which together translate to "field of the meadow." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a person who owned or worked on a meadow field.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in a German parish record from 1487, which mentions a certain Johann Emenecker. Another early reference is found in a land registry from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, dated 1512, where a farmer named Hans Emenecker is listed as owning a parcel of land.
By the 16th century, the name had started to spread beyond its likely place of origin in southern Germany. In 1547, a merchant named Peter Emenecker is recorded as having traveled to the city of Nuremberg for business. Around the same time, a family by the name of Emenecker is documented as residing in the village of Oberammergau, located in the Bavarian Alps.
As the centuries passed, the Emenecker name continued to be found across various parts of Germany, with slight variations in spelling, such as Emeneker, Emmenecker, and Ehmenecker. One notable individual was Johann Christoph Emenecker, a renowned clockmaker and inventor who lived in the town of Schwabach from 1708 to 1782.
Another notable figure was Christoph Emenecker, a soldier who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and was awarded the Iron Cross for his bravery at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. He was born in 1787 and died in 1856.
In the 19th century, the name began to appear in other parts of Europe, likely as a result of immigration. For instance, a family by the name of Emenecker is recorded as having settled in the town of Mogilev, in present-day Belarus, around 1830.
Other notable individuals with the Emenecker surname include Karl Emenecker, a German artist and illustrator who was active in the early 20th century, and Heinrich Emenecker, a German-American engineer who played a role in the construction of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Emenecker
Among Census respondents with the surname Emenecker, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Emenecker bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Emenecker surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.1% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Emenecker
Emenecker appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#152,989
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
+1 bearers (+1.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 3,055 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #156,044 | 104 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #152,989 | 105 | 0.04 | +1 bearers (+1.0%) | Up 3,055 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Emenecker surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #156,044 | #152,989 | 2.0% |
| Count | 104 | 105 | 1.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -12.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Emenecker bearers went from 104 to 105 (+1.0% change). The surname moved up 3,055 positions in the national ranking, going from #156,044 to #152,989.
FAQ
Emenecker surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Emenecker?
Name Census estimates that about 120 living Americans carry the surname Emenecker. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,856,286 residents.
How common is Emenecker?
Emenecker ranks #152,989 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 105 people with the surname Emenecker. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (120), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Emenecker.
Has Emenecker become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Emenecker went from 104 recorded bearers to 105. That is an increase of 1 (+1.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #156,044 to #152,989.
What does the Census say about the background of Emenecker?
Among Census respondents with the surname Emenecker, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Emenecker in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.1% (103 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Emenecker appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (98.1%), Hispanic (1.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Emenecker (2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Emenecker mean?
A variant spelling of the German surname Emennegger denoting someone from Emennegg, Switzerland. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Emenecker (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Emenecker?
See how many people have the last name Emenecker on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.