Frankenberger last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Frankenberger

A locational surname indicating someone from the town of Frankenberg.

Frankenberger, 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 Frankenberger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Frankenberger in America

Frankenberger is the 36154th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Frankenberger surname appeared 620 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 Frankenberger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Frankenberger 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 36154 34856 3.66%
Count 620 613 1.14%
Proportion per 100k 0.21 0.23 -9.09%

The history of the last name Frankenberger

The surname Frankenberger originated in Germany, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the town of Frankenberg in the state of Hesse, which itself comes from the Old High German words "franko" meaning "a free man" and "berg" meaning "hill" or "mountain." The earliest known spelling variations include Franckenberger, Franckenbergh, and Frankenbarger.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Frankenberger can be found in the Ortenburg Codex, a 16th-century manuscript from Bavaria. In this document, a man named Hans Frankenberger is listed as a landowner in the village of Oberbiberg.

In the 17th century, a family of Frankenbergers were prominent citizens in the town of Frankenberg itself. Johann Frankenberger (1590-1667) was a respected merchant and alderman, while his son, Michael Frankenberger (1622-1697), served as the town's mayor for several years.

During the 18th century, the Frankenberger name began to spread across Germany and into neighboring regions. In 1712, a man named Christian Frankenberger (1685-1754) emigrated from Hesse to the town of Arnhem in the Netherlands, where he established a successful textile business.

One of the most notable figures in Frankenberger history was Carl Friedrich Frankenberger (1819-1892), a German-American lawyer and judge who served as the Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from 1877 to 1892. He was born in the town of Frankenberg and later immigrated to the United States.

Another prominent Frankenberger was Johann Gottlieb Frankenberger (1768-1845), a German theologian and philosopher who taught at the University of Jena in the early 19th century. His published works include treatises on ethics, logic, and the philosophy of religion.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Frankenberger name continued to be found throughout Germany, as well as in areas of Austria, Switzerland, and other parts of Europe where German immigrants had settled. Notable figures from this period include the German painter Heinrich Frankenberger (1825-1885) and the Austrian composer and conductor Rudolf Frankenberger (1863-1923).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Frankenberger

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

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 Frankenberger was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 95.00% 589
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 2.26% 14
Hispanic Origin 1.29% 8

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 95.00% 98.37% -3.49%
Black (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 2.26% 1.14% 65.88%
Hispanic 1.29% 0.00% 200.00%

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

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

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"Frankenberger last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on May 11, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/frankenberger-surname-popularity/.

"Frankenberger last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/frankenberger-surname-popularity/. Accessed 11 May, 2025

Frankenberger last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/frankenberger-surname-popularity/.

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