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

Heineman, 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 Heineman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Heineman in America

Heineman is the 11478th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Heineman surname appeared 2,741 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 Heineman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Heineman 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 Heineman

The surname Heineman originated in Germany during the late medieval period. It derives from the German personal name Hein, a diminutive form of Heinrich, combined with the suffix "-man" meaning "man." The name essentially translates to "little man of Heinrich."

One of the earliest recorded instances of this surname can be found in the Deutsches Familiennamen-Lexikon, a comprehensive dictionary of German family names, which documents a Heinemann living in Hesse as early as 1343. The name also appears in various historical records and manuscripts from the 14th and 15th centuries across various regions of Germany.

In the 16th century, the name Heineman began to spread beyond Germany's borders. Records show individuals bearing this surname in the Netherlands, where it was often spelled as "Heyneman" or "Heijneman." One notable bearer of the name was Willem Heyneman, a Dutch merchant and banker who lived from 1510 to 1575.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Heineman surname continued to gain prominence across Europe. In England, the name was sometimes anglicized to "Heyman" or "Hyman." One notable English bearer of the name was Sir William Heyman, a Member of Parliament who lived from 1677 to 1732.

As the name spread across Europe, it also found its way to the Americas. In the United States, one of the earliest recorded bearers of the Heineman surname was Johann Heineman, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the late 18th century.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Heineman. This includes Gustav Heineman (1899-1976), a German-American painter and printmaker; Marjorie Heineman (1904-1993), an American philanthropist and art collector; and Dannie Heineman (1923-2016), a Belgian-American engineer and inventor best known for his work on the development of the compact disc.

Another notable bearer of the Heineman surname was Sir Benjamin Heineman (1913-2003), an English lawyer and businessman who served as the Chairman of the Rhodes Trust from 1976 to 1985. Additionally, there was Herman Heineman (1890-1976), a Dutch-American businessman who founded the Heineman Electric Company in the early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Heineman

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

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

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

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