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

Hartwig, 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 Hartwig surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hartwig in America

Hartwig is the 5845th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hartwig surname appeared 5,913 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Hartwig.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hartwig 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 Hartwig

The surname Hartwig originated in Germany, with the earliest records dating back to the 12th century. It is a compound name derived from the Old German words "hart" meaning "hardy" or "strong" and "wig" meaning "battle" or "warrior." The name likely referred to someone who was a skilled and formidable warrior.

The Hartwig name was particularly prevalent in the regions of Saxony and Thuringia, where many early bearers of the name were documented. In the 13th century, a knight named Hartwig von Hagen was mentioned in the chronicles of the Teutonic Order, indicating the name's association with nobility and military service.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Hartwig surname appears in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, dated around 1250. This record mentions a landowner named Hartwig von Eberstein.

The name also appeared in various forms in historical records, such as Hartwich, Hartwic, and Hartwig. These variations were often due to regional spelling differences or scribal errors in transcription.

Notable individuals with the Hartwig surname include:

1. Hartwig von Erfurt (c. 1185-1230), a German philosopher and theologian known for his works on natural philosophy and metaphysics.

2. Hartwig von Herringen (c. 1300-1370), a German knight and crusader who participated in the Prussian Crusades against the Baltic Prussians.

3. Hartwig von Massenbach (c. 1480-1545), a German humanist scholar and educator who served as the rector of several prestigious schools in Germany.

4. Hartwig Ludolf (1670-1738), a German theologian and writer who authored several religious works and served as a pastor in Hamburg.

5. Hartwig Seyffert (1876-1954), a German philologist and classical scholar known for his contributions to the study of ancient Greek and Roman literature.

Throughout its history, the Hartwig surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Hartwig (a village in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany), Hartwigshafen (a district in Wiesbaden, Germany), and Hartwigsee (a lake in Brandenburg, Germany).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hartwig

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!