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

Giesbrecht, 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 Giesbrecht surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Giesbrecht in America

Giesbrecht is the 20394th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Giesbrecht surname appeared 1,303 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 Giesbrecht.

We can also compare 2010 data for Giesbrecht 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 Giesbrecht

The surname GIESBRECHT is of German origin, originating from the region of Lower Saxony in northern Germany during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old German words "gies" and "brecht," which mean "hostage" and "bright," respectively. This combination is thought to have originally referred to a person who was a bright or distinguished hostage or prisoner.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the GIESBRECHT surname can be found in the Bremisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of medieval documents from the former Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, dating back to 1259. In this document, a man named Gisebrechtus is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction.

In the 14th century, a notable figure named Heinrich GIESBRECHT was a prominent merchant and councilman in the city of Lübeck, an important trading center in the Hanseatic League. He is recorded as having participated in negotiations with the Danish king in 1368.

During the 16th century, a Lutheran theologian named Johann GIESBRECHT (1492-1556) was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation. He served as a professor at the University of Wittenberg and was a close associate of Martin Luther.

In the 17th century, a Dutch explorer named Pieter GIESBRECHT (1624-1685) is known for his expeditions to the Arctic region in search of a northern passage to the East Indies. He made several attempts to navigate the waters around the Svalbard archipelago and the Barents Sea.

Another notable figure was the German composer and musician Johann GIESBRECHT (1748-1828), who was active in the classical music scene of Berlin during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He composed numerous works for the piano and served as a court musician for Frederick the Great.

These examples highlight the historical presence of the GIESBRECHT surname across various fields, including commerce, religion, exploration, and the arts, primarily within the German-speaking regions of Europe from the medieval period onwards.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Giesbrecht

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

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

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

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