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

Gebhard, 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 Gebhard surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gebhard in America

Gebhard is the 15970th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gebhard surname appeared 1,818 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 Gebhard.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gebhard 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 Gebhard

The surname GEBHARD is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old High German personal name Gebhart, which is composed of the elements "geb," meaning "gift," and "hart," meaning "hardy" or "strong." The name therefore signifies a strong or hardy gift.

The earliest recorded instances of the name GEBHARD can be found in various German and Swiss records from the 11th and 12th centuries. One notable early bearer was Gebhard III, Count of Supplinburg, who lived from around 1015 to 1098 and served as Bishop of Regensburg from 1060 to 1064.

In the 12th century, the name GEBHARD appeared in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Raitenbuch, a cartulary of the Raitenbucher Monastery in Bavaria, which recorded various land transactions and donations involving individuals with this surname.

The name GEBHARD is also closely associated with several German and Swiss towns and villages, many of which were likely named after early bearers of the surname. These include Gebhardshain in Hesse, Gebhardsmühlen in Rhineland-Palatinate, and Gebhardschwil in the canton of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

One of the most notable historical figures bearing the surname GEBHARD was Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg (1547-1601), a German prince-bishop who served as the Prince-Archbishop of Cologne from 1577 to 1583. He was a key figure in the Counter-Reformation and played a significant role in the religious and political conflicts of the time.

Other noteworthy individuals with the surname GEBHARD include Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742-1819), a Prussian Generalfeldmarschall who led his army against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, and Gebhard Fürst zu Waldburg-Zeil-Trauchburg (1899-1976), a German nobleman and resistance fighter against the Nazi regime.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gebhard

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

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

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

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