Hoyer last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Hoyer

Derived from the Middle High German word "hoyer" or "hoger," meaning a person who makes and sells hats.

Hoyer, 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 Hoyer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hoyer in America

Hoyer is the 9104th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hoyer surname appeared 3,589 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 Hoyer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hoyer 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 9104 8476 7.14%
Count 3,589 3,581 0.22%
Proportion per 100k 1.22 1.33 -8.63%

The history of the last name Hoyer

The surname Hoyer originated in Germany and is derived from the German word "Hoyer," which refers to a hay farmer or someone who worked with hay. It is believed to have emerged as an occupational surname in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.

The name is thought to have originated in the regions of Lower Saxony and Westphalia, where hay farming was a prevalent occupation. Over time, the name spread to other parts of Germany and neighboring countries, such as the Netherlands and Denmark.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name Hoyer can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from the medieval period in Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. In this document, the name appears in various spellings, including "Hoyere" and "Hoier."

In the 14th century, a prominent individual named Johann Hoyer was mentioned in the records of the city of Lübeck, a major trading center in northern Germany. He was a merchant and guild member.

Another notable figure with this surname was Hans Hoyer, a German printer and publisher who lived in the 15th century. He established a printing press in the city of Nuremberg and was known for publishing works by humanist scholars and writers.

During the 16th century, the name Hoyer appeared in various historical records across Germany, including municipal documents and church registers. One example is Peter Hoyer, a Protestant theologian and reformer born in 1519 in Saxony.

In the 17th century, Johann Hoyer, a German jurist and legal scholar, gained recognition for his work on criminal law and legal reform. He was born in 1642 in the city of Halle and served as a professor at the University of Leipzig.

Another notable figure with the surname Hoyer was Carl Hoyer, a German architect and urban planner born in 1840. He was instrumental in the redesign and modernization of several German cities, including Berlin and Frankfurt.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hoyer

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

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 Hoyer was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 90.94% 3,264
Non-Hispanic Black Only 1.76% 63
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.61% 22
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.31% 11
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.50% 54
Hispanic Origin 4.88% 175

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

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 90.94% 92.24% -1.42%
Black 1.76% 1.93% -9.21%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.61% 0.61% 0.00%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.31% 0.39% -22.86%
Two or More Races 1.50% 1.31% 13.52%
Hispanic 4.88% 3.52% 32.38%

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Hoyer, 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!

"Hoyer last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/hoyer-surname-popularity/.

"Hoyer last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/hoyer-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

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

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.