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

Herbig, 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 Herbig surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Herbig in America

Herbig is the 25902nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Herbig surname appeared 949 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 Herbig.

We can also compare 2010 data for Herbig 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 Herbig

The surname Herbig has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the German word "Herbst," which means "autumn" or "harvest." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a place where crops were harvested or someone whose occupation was related to the autumn harvest.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Herbig can be traced back to the 13th century in various German regions, such as Bavaria and Saxony. It is believed to have evolved from the older spelling "Herbstich," which appeared in medieval records and manuscripts.

One notable historical reference to the name Herbig is found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval documents from the 12th to the 16th centuries. This work mentions a person named "Herbigus" in a land transaction dated 1256.

In the 15th century, a place name "Herbigshausen" emerged in the region of Hesse, Germany. This name likely originated from a combination of the surname Herbig and the German suffix "-hausen," which means "houses" or "homestead." It is possible that a prominent Herbig family resided in this area, leading to the naming of the settlement.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Herbig was Johann Herbig, a German scholar and theologian who lived from 1616 to 1677. He served as a professor at the University of Wittenberg and authored several works on religious topics.

In the 18th century, Johann Friedrich Herbig (1722-1796) was a notable German composer and organist. He held positions at various churches in Saxony and composed numerous sacred works for choir and organ.

Another noteworthy bearer of the Herbig surname was Gustav Herbig (1868-1925), a German astronomer and physicist. He made significant contributions to the study of stellar spectra and the composition of stars.

Reinhold Herbig (1890-1971) was a German-American astronomer who specialized in the study of emission nebulae and star formation. He conducted groundbreaking research at the Lick Observatory in California and had an asteroid named in his honor.

In the field of linguistics, Hans Herbig (1888-1964) was a prominent German philologist and Indo-Europeanist. He made influential contributions to the study of ancient Indo-European languages and their relationships.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Herbig

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

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

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

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