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

Hirt, 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 Hirt surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hirt in America

Hirt is the 11250th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hirt surname appeared 2,810 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 Hirt.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hirt 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 Hirt

The surname Hirt is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "hirt," meaning "herdsman" or "shepherd." It is an occupational surname, suggesting that the original bearer of the name was involved in tending livestock.

The name can be traced back to the 13th century in various regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria and Swabia. Records from this period often show variations in spelling, such as Hyrte, Hirte, and Hirtt.

One of the earliest known references to the name Hirt can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, where a certain Henricus Hirt is mentioned in a charter dated 1293.

In the 14th century, the surname appears in various records from the region of Franconia, including the Würzburg Diocesan Archives, which mention a Johannes Hirt in 1378.

During the Middle Ages, the name Hirt was often associated with rural communities, as shepherding was a common occupation in many parts of Germany. However, as urbanization increased, some Hirts became involved in other trades and professions.

Notable individuals bearing the surname Hirt include Johannes Hirt (1592-1667), a German theologian and author from Nuremberg, and Johann Friedrich Hirt (1719-1784), a German architect and builder who worked on several churches and palaces in the Rhineland-Palatinate region.

In the 19th century, the name gained prominence with the birth of Ferdinand Hirt (1810-1868), a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Berlin and other cities.

Other notable bearers of the surname include the German-American linguist Hermann Hirt (1865-1936), who made significant contributions to the study of Indo-European languages, and the German artist Wilhelm Hirt (1876-1952), known for his landscape paintings and etchings.

While the surname Hirt is most commonly found in Germany and other German-speaking regions, it has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora communities.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hirt

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

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

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

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