Giesecke last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Giesecke

A German topographic name referring to someone living near a brook or stream.

Giesecke, 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 Giesecke surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Giesecke in America

Giesecke is the 50275th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Giesecke surname appeared 416 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 Giesecke.

We can also compare 2010 data for Giesecke 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 50275 51945 -3.27%
Count 416 376 10.10%
Proportion per 100k 0.14 0.14 0.00%

The history of the last name Giesecke

The surname Giesecke is of German origin and dates back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old German words "gieze" meaning "stream" or "little river" and "ecke" meaning "corner" or "edge". This suggests that the name originally referred to someone who lived near the corner or edge of a stream.

The earliest recorded instances of the Giesecke name can be found in various records and manuscripts from the 13th and 14th centuries in the regions of Saxony and Thuringia in central Germany. Some of the earliest spellings include Giezecke, Giesicke, and Gyesecke.

One of the earliest known individuals with the Giesecke surname was Hans Giesecke, a landowner and farmer who lived in the village of Eisleben, Saxony, in the late 14th century. Records show that he owned several acres of land along the banks of the River Ilm.

Another notable figure was Johann Giesecke, a German botanist and explorer who lived from 1761 to 1833. He is known for his extensive travels and botanical discoveries in Greenland, Iceland, and other parts of the Arctic region.

In the 16th century, the Giesecke family established a presence in the city of Leipzig, where they became successful merchants and traders. One member, Georg Giesecke (1492-1567), was a prominent businessman and served as a city councilor.

The name Giesecke can also be found in historical records from the nearby region of Thuringia. In the 17th century, a pastor named Christoph Giesecke (1609-1678) served in the town of Erfurt and was known for his scholarly writings on theology.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, several individuals with the Giesecke surname made significant contributions in various fields, including science, education, and the arts. These include the chemist and inventor Carl Giesecke (1854-1928), the educator and writer Hermann Giesecke (1856-1910), and the painter and illustrator Ernst Giesecke (1879-1958).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Giesecke

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

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 Giesecke was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 94.95% 395
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.68% 7
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin 2.16% 9

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 94.95% 97.07% -2.21%
Black 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.68% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Two or More Races (S)% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 2.16% 1.60% 29.79%

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

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

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"Giesecke last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on July 16, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/giesecke-surname-popularity/.

"Giesecke last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/giesecke-surname-popularity/. Accessed 16 July, 2025

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

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