Fehrmann last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Fehrmann

A German surname from an occupational name for a ferryman or boatman.

Fehrmann, 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 Fehrmann surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fehrmann in America

Fehrmann is the 61123rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fehrmann surname appeared 329 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 Fehrmann.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fehrmann 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank61123561208.53%
Count329341-3.58%
Proportion per 100k0.110.13-16.67%

The history of the last name Fehrmann

The surname FEHRMANN originates from Germany and dates back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old High German word "fëran," which means "to travel" or "to go." This suggests that the name may have initially been given to people who frequently traveled, such as merchants, pilgrims, or messengers.

The earliest recorded instances of the name FEHRMANN can be found in various German records from the 13th and 14th centuries. One notable example is Johannes Fehrmann, a merchant from Nuremberg who was mentioned in a trade document dated 1327.

During the 15th century, the name FEHRMANN began to spread across different regions of Germany. In some areas, the spelling varied slightly, with variations such as "Fehrman" or "Fereman" appearing in local records.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Heinrich Fehrmann, a scholar and theologian who lived in the city of Erfurt in the late 15th century. He was renowned for his extensive work on biblical exegesis and is mentioned in several historical manuscripts from that time.

In the 16th century, the name FEHRMANN gained further prominence with the rise of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. Johannes Fehrmann, born in 1525 in Wittenberg, was a close associate of Martin Luther and played a significant role in spreading the teachings of the Reformation throughout the region.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the FEHRMANN name continued to be found across various parts of Germany, with several notable individuals bearing the surname. One such person was Friedrich Fehrmann, a renowned painter born in 1696 in Dresden, whose works are still exhibited in various museums across Europe.

Another prominent figure was Johanna Fehrmann, born in 1732 in Hannover, who was a respected writer and poet during the Age of Enlightenment. Her collection of poems, published in 1768, gained widespread acclaim and influenced many other writers of her time.

In the 19th century, the FEHRMANN name expanded beyond Germany, with some families emigrating to other parts of Europe and even to the Americas. One notable individual from this period was Karl Fehrmann, a German-American engineer born in 1853, who played a crucial role in the construction of several major bridges and infrastructure projects in the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fehrmann

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

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 Fehrmann was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only95.74%315
Non-Hispanic Black Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only0.00%0
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races(S)%(S)
Hispanic Origin2.74%9

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

20102000Change (%)
White95.74%95.89%-0.16%
Black(S)%(S)%(S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander0.00%0.00%0.00%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%(S)%(S)%
Two or More Races(S)%(S)%(S)%
Hispanic2.74%2.05%28.81%

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

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

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