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

Erwin, 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 Erwin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Erwin in America

Erwin is the 1594th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Erwin surname appeared 22,496 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Erwin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Erwin 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 Erwin

The surname Erwin is derived from the Germanic personal name Arvin or Erwin, which is composed of the elements "aru" meaning "eagle" and "win" meaning "friend" or "protector". This name was particularly popular among the Saxons who inhabited areas of modern-day northern Germany and the Netherlands.

The earliest recorded mention of the name Erwin can be traced back to the 8th century in the Codex Traditiones of the Freising monastery in Bavaria. In this manuscript, an individual named Aruuuin is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction.

Another early reference to the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest of England. In this record, an individual named Eruuin is listed as a landowner in the county of Shropshire.

In the 12th century, a notable individual named Erwin von Steinbach (c. 1244 - c. 1318) was the architect responsible for the construction of the famous Strasbourg Cathedral in France. His surname, von Steinbach, suggests that he or his ancestors may have originated from the town of Steinbach.

Another prominent figure with the surname Erwin was the German philosopher and mathematician Wilhelm Gottlieb Erwin (1701 - 1758), who made significant contributions to the field of symbolic logic.

During the 16th century, the name Erwin was also found in various place names, such as Erwinsdorf (now part of Kornwestheim, Germany) and Erwinsberg (a hill near Wertheim am Main, Germany), indicating the presence of individuals or families with this surname in those areas.

Over the centuries, the surname Erwin has undergone various spelling variations, including Ervin, Erwen, Erwine, and Erwyn. These variations were often influenced by regional dialects and scribal conventions of the time.

Notable individuals with the surname Erwin throughout history include the American Civil War general Thomas Erwin (1825 - 1906), the British politician and diplomat Sir John Erwin (1793 - 1858), and the American writer and editor Kathleen Erwin (1912 - 1989).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Erwin

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

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

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