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

Fett, 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 Fett surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fett in America

Fett is the 16993rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fett surname appeared 1,672 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Fett.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fett 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 Fett

The surname FETT is of German origin, emerging in the 16th century from various regions of present-day Germany. It is derived from the Old High German word "fëtt" or the Middle High German word "vëtt," meaning "fat" or "stout." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a person of larger build or stature.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname FETT can be found in various church records and tax rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries in regions such as Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Hans FETT, born in 1572 in the town of Augsburg, Bavaria.

In the 17th century, the surname FETT appears in the records of several small villages and towns in the Palatinate region, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. For example, the village of Bellheim had several FETT families listed in its parish records from the mid-1600s.

The surname FETT is also associated with several place names in Germany, such as Fetterhof and Fetterhöfe, which may have influenced the development of the surname in certain regions.

One notable bearer of the FETT surname was Johann Georg FETT, a German composer and organist who lived from 1671 to 1734. He was born in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland) and served as the organist at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Breslau for over 40 years.

Another significant figure with the FETT surname was Johann Jakob FETT, a German theologian and philosopher who lived from 1735 to 1801. He was born in Heidelberg and served as a professor of philosophy and theology at the University of Heidelberg.

In the 19th century, the FETT surname can be found in various records and documents from across Germany, as well as in some parts of Austria and Switzerland, where German-speaking populations had settled.

One notable bearer from this period was Friedrich FETT, a German painter and illustrator who lived from 1838 to 1914. He was born in Düsseldorf and is known for his landscapes and genre paintings depicting rural life in Germany.

Another significant figure with the FETT surname was Karl FETT, a German astronomer who lived from 1866 to 1949. He was born in Berlin and made important contributions to the study of asteroids and comets, including the discovery of several minor planets.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fett

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

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

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

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