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

Emme, 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 Emme surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Emme in America

Emme is the 50362nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Emme surname appeared 415 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 Emme.

We can also compare 2010 data for Emme 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 Emme

The surname Emme is believed to have originated in Germany, with its earliest recorded use dating back to the 12th century. The name is thought to be derived from the Old German word "emmelc," which means "hardworking" or "industrious." It is also possible that the name has roots in the Old High German word "ammi," meaning "grandmother" or "nurse."

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname Emme was a knight named Heinrich von Emme, who served under the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the late 12th century. Records indicate that Heinrich von Emme participated in the Third Crusade and was present at the siege of Acre in 1191.

In the 13th century, a village named Emme existed in the region of Saxony, Germany. It is likely that some early bearers of the surname Emme hailed from this village or its surrounding areas. The village's name may have been derived from a nearby river or stream, as the word "emme" in Old German could refer to a small body of water.

The Emme surname also appears in several medieval German texts and records, such as the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from the region of Saxony. One notable individual mentioned in these records is Johann Emme, a merchant who lived in the city of Leipzig in the late 15th century.

In the 16th century, the Emme surname spread to other parts of Europe, including Switzerland and the Netherlands. One prominent figure from this time was Hans Emme, a Swiss theologian and reformer who lived from 1476 to 1541. He was a proponent of the Protestant Reformation and worked alongside Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich.

Another notable bearer of the Emme surname was Johann Friedrich Emme, a German composer and organist who lived from 1698 to 1766. He served as the court organist for the Duke of Saxe-Gotha and composed numerous works for organ and harpsichord.

While the Emme surname has its roots in Germany, over the centuries it has spread to various other countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia, as people migrated from Europe. However, the origins of the name can be traced back to the German regions of Saxony and the surrounding areas, where it first emerged as a distinctive surname during the medieval period.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Emme

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

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

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

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