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

Fingerhut, 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 Fingerhut surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Fingerhut in America

Fingerhut is the 44109th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Fingerhut surname appeared 488 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 Fingerhut.

We can also compare 2010 data for Fingerhut 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 Fingerhut

The surname Fingerhut is believed to have originated in Germany. It is derived from the German words "Finger" meaning finger and "Hut" meaning hat or thimble. The name likely referred to someone who made or sold thimbles, which were small protective coverings worn on the finger for sewing or other manual tasks.

The earliest known record of the name Fingerhut dates back to the 16th century in the region of Bavaria, southern Germany. It appeared in various town and village records, such as tax registers and church documents. The spelling variations included Fingerhuth, Fingerhüt, and Fingerhütte.

One of the earliest documented individuals with this surname was Hans Fingerhut, a tailor born in Augsburg, Bavaria, around 1520. Another notable early bearer of the name was Johann Fingerhut, a master blacksmith from the town of Nürnberg, who lived in the late 16th century.

In the 17th century, the Fingerhut name spread to other parts of Germany, as well as to neighboring regions such as Austria and Switzerland. A prominent figure was Peter Fingerhut, a renowned clockmaker from Jena, Thuringia, who lived from 1614 to 1687.

The 18th century saw the Fingerhut name appearing in various historical records across German-speaking lands. One notable individual was Johann Georg Fingerhut, a Lutheran pastor and theologian from Saxony, who lived from 1707 to 1788.

By the 19th century, the Fingerhut surname had become well-established, and individuals with this name could be found throughout German-speaking regions and beyond. One prominent bearer was Carl Anton Fingerhut, a German botanist and physician who lived from 1795 to 1870 and made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy.

Other notable individuals with the Fingerhut surname include the German artist and illustrator Karl Fingerhut (1834-1905), the Austrian architect and civil engineer Franz Fingerhut (1859-1934), and the German-American musician and composer Carl Fingerhut (1836-1905), who composed several popular marches and polkas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Fingerhut

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

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

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