2000
#133,114
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Feigert
A German surname derived from the Old High German word "feigart" meaning coward or cowardly.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 118 Americans carry the last name Feigert. That puts it at #154,182 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,904,698 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Feigert surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
118
1 in 2,904,698
Census rank
#154,182
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
103
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 103 bearers of the surname Feigert in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 154182nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Feigert, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Feigert
The surname Feigert is of German origin, with roots tracing back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated in the regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, where variations of the spelling, such as Feygert and Feyghert, were commonly found. The name is derived from the German word "feigen," which means "cowardly" or "timid," suggesting that it may have been a descriptive surname given to someone with a meek or timid demeanor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Feigert can be found in the town records of Esslingen, near Stuttgart, in the year 1587. These records mention a Hans Feygert, a baker by trade, who resided in the town during that time. Another early reference is from the parish records of Kirchheim unter Teck, dated 1612, which lists a Johannes Feyghert as a resident of the village.
In the 17th century, the name Feigert began to appear in various church and municipal records across southern Germany. Notable examples include a Johann Feigert, born in 1642 in Nürnberg, and a Michael Feigert, born in 1667 in Augsburg, both of whom were recorded as tradesmen in their respective cities.
As the centuries progressed, the Feigert name spread across Germany and into neighboring regions. In the 18th century, a prominent figure bearing the name was Johann Gottlieb Feigert, a renowned clockmaker born in 1732 in Dresden. His intricate timepieces were highly sought after by the nobility and wealthy merchants of the time.
During the 19th century, the name gained recognition in the field of academia with the birth of Karl Feigert in 1828 in Munich. Feigert was a respected philosopher and professor at the University of Leipzig, where he made significant contributions to the study of epistemology and metaphysics.
Another noteworthy individual was Maximilian Feigert, born in 1845 in Freiburg im Breisgau. Feigert was a talented architect who designed several prominent buildings in Baden-Württemberg, including the Freiburg Stadttheater (City Theater) and the Neue Rathaus (New Town Hall).
As the 20th century dawned, the Feigert name continued to be represented in various fields. Amalie Feigert, born in 1901 in Berlin, was a celebrated opera singer who performed on stages across Europe, while Hans Feigert, born in 1912 in Stuttgart, was a renowned sculptor whose works adorned public spaces throughout Germany.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Feigert
Among Census respondents with the surname Feigert, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Feigert bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Feigert surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 103
Timeline
Historical Census data for Feigert
Feigert appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#142,108
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 117
+0 bearers (+0.0%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,994 places
2020
#154,182
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
-14 bearers (-12.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 12,074 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #133,114 | 117 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #142,108 | 117 | 0.04 | +0 bearers (+0.0%) | Down 8,994 places |
| 2020 | #154,182 | 103 | 0.03 | -14 bearers (-12.0%) | Down 12,074 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Feigert surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #142,108 | #154,182 | -8.5% |
| Count | 117 | 103 | -12.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Feigert bearers went from 117 to 103 (-12.0% change). The surname moved down 12,074 positions in the national ranking, going from #142,108 to #154,182.
FAQ
Feigert surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Feigert?
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the surname Feigert. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,904,698 residents.
How common is Feigert?
Feigert ranks #154,182 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 103 people with the surname Feigert. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (118), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Feigert.
Has Feigert become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Feigert went from 117 recorded bearers to 103. That is a decrease of 14 (-12.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #142,108 to #154,182.
What does the Census say about the background of Feigert?
Among Census respondents with the surname Feigert, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%. These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Feigert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (103 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Feigert appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (100.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Feigert (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Feigert mean?
A German surname derived from the Old High German word "feigart" meaning coward or cowardly. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Feigert (0.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Feigert?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.