Eppenger last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Eppenger

A German surname potentially derived from a place name or occupational term related to farming.

Eppenger, 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 Eppenger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Eppenger in America

Eppenger is the 109758th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Eppenger surname appeared 161 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 Eppenger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Eppenger 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 109758 108734 0.94%
Count 161 151 6.41%
Proportion per 100k 0.05 0.06 -18.18%

The history of the last name Eppenger

The surname EPPENGER originates from Germany, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 16th century. The name is believed to have derived from the Old German words "epp" meaning "field" and "anger" meaning "field worker" or "farmer." This suggests that the EPPENGER surname may have initially referred to an individual who worked in fields or possessed land used for agricultural purposes.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the EPPENGER surname is found in the town records of Württemberg, a historic German territory, where a Johann Eppenger was documented in the early 1500s. It is possible that the name had existed in the region for some time before this, as surnames often emerged gradually during the Middle Ages.

In the 17th century, the EPPENGER surname appears to have spread across various German-speaking regions, including Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland. Variations in spelling, such as "Eppengler" and "Eppinger," were also documented during this period, likely due to regional dialects and the inconsistencies in record-keeping at the time.

A notable historical figure bearing the EPPENGER surname was Johann Georg Eppenger (1666-1742), a German theologian and pastor from Württemberg. He authored several religious texts and served as a minister in various parishes throughout his lifetime.

Another prominent individual with this surname was Friedrich Wilhelm Eppenger (1795-1867), a German architect and urban planner. He was responsible for designing several notable buildings and urban development projects in the city of Frankfurt during the 19th century.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the EPPENGER surname can be found in various records from the German states, including church registers, census records, and military rolls. This indicates that families with this surname were well-established across different regions and social strata.

Notably, the EPPENGER surname also made its way to North America, likely through German immigrants during the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances in the United States is Jacob Eppenger, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1765 and served in the American Revolutionary War.

Another notable individual with the EPPENGER surname was Carl Eppenger (1828-1905), a German-American artist and painter who immigrated to the United States in the mid-19th century. He is known for his landscape paintings depicting scenes from the American West and Rocky Mountains.

Overall, the EPPENGER surname has a rich history rooted in the German-speaking regions of Europe, with its origins tracing back to the medieval era. Despite variations in spelling, the name has maintained a strong presence throughout the centuries, with notable individuals bearing this surname contributing to various fields, including theology, architecture, and the arts.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Eppenger

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

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 Eppenger was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 11.18% 18
Non-Hispanic Black Only 84.47% 136
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

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 Eppenger has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 11.18% 9.27% 18.68%
Black 84.47% 88.74% -4.93%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races (S)% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic (S)% (S)% (S)%

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

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

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"Eppenger last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/eppenger-surname-popularity/.

"Eppenger last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/eppenger-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Eppenger last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/eppenger-surname-popularity/.

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