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

Firnstahl, 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 Firnstahl surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Firnstahl in America

Firnstahl is the 136449th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Firnstahl surname appeared 123 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 Firnstahl.

We can also compare 2010 data for Firnstahl 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 Firnstahl

The surname FIRNSTAHL is believed to have originated in the German-speaking regions of Europe, likely in the late Middle Ages or early modern period. It is a compound word derived from the German words "firn" meaning "eternal snow" and "stahl" meaning "steel," suggesting a connection to mountainous regions or areas with harsh winter conditions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 16th-century tax records of the town of Schmalkalden in the German state of Thuringia. There, a blacksmith named Hans Firnstahl was listed as a resident in the year 1573.

In the 17th century, the name appears in various church records and municipal documents across German-speaking regions, indicating its spread and establishment as a hereditary surname. Notable bearers from this era include Johann Firnstahl (1592-1649), a Lutheran theologian and author from Saxony.

As the centuries progressed, the Firnstahl name continued to be associated with regions of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In the 19th century, a Prussian military officer named Friedrich Firnstahl (1809-1876) gained recognition for his service during the Revolutions of 1848 and the Austro-Prussian War.

Another notable figure was the Swiss mountaineer and explorer Jakob Firnstahl (1848-1916), who was among the first to summit several peaks in the Swiss Alps, including the Matterhorn and the Dufourspitze.

In the early 20th century, the German-born physicist and Nobel laureate Max Firnstahl (1878-1967) made significant contributions to the field of quantum mechanics and the development of the Schrödinger equation.

While the name FIRNSTAHL is relatively uncommon, it has persisted throughout the centuries, with bearers scattered across various German-speaking regions and beyond, carrying on the legacy of this distinctive surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Firnstahl

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

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

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

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