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

Faber, 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 Faber surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Faber in America

Faber is the 3555th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Faber surname appeared 10,039 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Faber.

We can also compare 2010 data for Faber 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 Faber

The surname Faber originates from the German and Dutch languages, dating back to the Middle Ages. It is an occupational name derived from the Latin word "faber," meaning a craftsman, smith, or maker.

Faber is believed to have first emerged in the regions of present-day Germany and the Netherlands around the 12th century. In medieval times, Faber was commonly used to refer to individuals involved in metalworking, carpentry, or other crafts.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Faber can be found in the Codex Traditionum Corbeiensium, a medieval cartulary from the Benedictine abbey of Corvey in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. This document, dating back to the 9th century, mentions several individuals with the surname Faber.

In the 13th century, the name Faber appeared in the Liber Censuum, a papal record of tax rolls and rents. This indicates that individuals bearing this surname were present in various parts of Europe at that time.

Among notable historical figures with the surname Faber are Jacobus Faber (c. 1475-1541), a Dutch humanist and theologian, and Johannes Faber (1478-1541), a German theologian and a leading figure in the Catholic Reformation.

Another prominent individual was Basilius Faber (1520-1576), a German theologian and Protestant reformer who played a significant role in the Reformation in Switzerland.

In the realm of art, Petrus Faber (c. 1540-1612) was a renowned Dutch painter and engraver active in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known for his religious and allegorical works.

Johann Faber (1552-1633), a German musician and composer, made significant contributions to the development of Protestant church music during the Baroque period.

The surname Faber has undergone various spelling variations over time, including Fabre, Fabri, and Fabry, reflecting regional and linguistic differences.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Faber

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

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

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