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

Fath, 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 Fath surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fath in America

Fath is the 19348th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fath surname appeared 1,398 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 Fath.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fath 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 Fath

The surname FATH originates from Germany, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Middle High German word "vat," meaning "barrel" or "cask." This suggests that the name was likely an occupational surname for someone who worked as a cooper or barrel-maker.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name FATH can be found in the town of Augsburg, Bavaria, in a church register from 1562, where a Hans Fath is listed as a resident. The name also appears in various other German regions during this time period, such as Saxony and Württemberg.

In the 17th century, the FATH surname is documented in several historical records, including the Kirchenbücher (church books) of various German towns and villages. For instance, in 1634, a Johann Adam Fath is recorded as a landowner in the village of Külsheim, in the present-day state of Baden-Württemberg.

During the 18th century, the FATH name gained prominence in the city of Nuremberg, where a family of artists and engravers bearing this surname flourished. The most notable among them was Georg Fath (1711-1763), a renowned copperplate engraver and etcher whose works were highly sought after across Europe.

Another significant figure with the FATH surname was Johann Philipp Fath (1744-1813), a German clockmaker and inventor from the town of Schramberg in the Black Forest region. He is credited with developing a revolutionary escapement mechanism for clocks, known as the Fath dead-beat escapement, which greatly improved their accuracy and timekeeping.

In the 19th century, the FATH name continued to be well-represented in various German states, with notable individuals such as Karl Friedrich Fath (1819-1891), a prominent lawyer and politician from Wiesbaden, and Heinrich Fath (1843-1916), a renowned architect from Frankfurt who designed several iconic buildings in the city.

As the surname FATH spread across Germany and into other parts of Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, including Fath, Fath, Faath, andFaht, reflecting regional dialects and customs in different areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fath

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

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

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

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