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

Idler, 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 Idler surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Idler in America

Idler is the 51941st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Idler surname appeared 400 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 Idler.

We can also compare 2010 data for Idler 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 Idler

The surname Idler is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "idel" meaning "empty" or "vain." It likely originated in the 13th or 14th century as a descriptive name for someone who was perceived as lazy, idle, or unproductive.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the town records of Würzburg, Germany, where a Hainrich der Ideler was mentioned in 1305. The surname also appears in various spellings such as Ideler, Iedeler, and Ytteler in other German regions during the late medieval period.

In England, the name Idler is believed to have been introduced by German immigrants or mercenaries during the 16th or 17th centuries. One of the earliest known bearers of the name in England was Hans Idler, a German-born merchant who settled in London in the late 1500s.

Notable individuals with the surname Idler include:

1. Christian Ludwig Idler (1766-1849), a German philosopher and writer who was a contemporary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

2. Albrecht Idler (1881-1959), a German artist and illustrator known for his woodcuts and lithographs.

3. Eduard Idler (1892-1962), a German politician and member of the Nazi Party during World War II.

4. Gertrud Idler (1907-1998), a German actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and operettas during the 1930s and 1940s.

5. Heribert Idler (1921-2008), an Austrian-born Catholic bishop who served as the Bishop of Eisenstadt from 1968 to 1996.

While the surname Idler is relatively uncommon, it has persisted through the centuries, carrying the legacy of its Middle High German roots and the connotations associated with its original meaning.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Idler

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

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

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

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