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

Im, 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 Im surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Im in America

Im is the 6880th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Im surname appeared 4,887 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Im.

We can also compare 2010 data for Im 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 Im

The surname Im has its origins traced back to the regions of present-day Germany and the Netherlands, where it first emerged in the early medieval period around the 10th or 11th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old Frisian and Old Saxon word "im," which meant "him" or "he," suggesting that the name may have been initially used as a nickname or descriptive term for a specific individual.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Im surname can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents and charters from the region of Saxony, where a person named Immo is mentioned in a record dated around 1050. This particular record pertained to a land transaction, indicating that the Im surname was already in use by that time.

In the 13th century, the name appears in various forms, such as Imme, Ymme, and Yme, in various medieval records and chronicles from the Netherlands and the Lower Rhine region of Germany. These variations in spelling were common during that era due to the lack of standardized orthography.

A notable historical figure bearing the Im surname was Johannes Im, a German Renaissance scholar and humanist who lived from around 1470 to 1536. He was a professor of rhetoric and poetry at the University of Leipzig and was widely respected for his contributions to the study of classical literature.

Another individual of note was Dietrich Im, a German painter and engraver who lived from approximately 1570 to 1635. He was known for his religious paintings and engravings, many of which adorned churches and monasteries in the region of Saxony.

In the 17th century, the Im surname can be found in the records of the Dutch East India Company, where a merchant named Pieter Im is listed as having traded in the city of Batavia, present-day Jakarta, Indonesia.

The name also appears in historical records from the United Kingdom, where a family by the name of Im was recorded in the parish registers of Lincolnshire in the late 16th century.

Other notable individuals bearing the Im surname include Johann Im, a German theologian and philosopher from the late 17th century, and Caspar Im, a Dutch painter and engraver from the early 18th century, known for his landscapes and portraits.

Overall, the surname Im has a rich history spanning several centuries and can be traced back to its origins in the regions of Germany and the Netherlands, where it was likely derived from an Old Frisian or Old Saxon word used as a descriptive term or nickname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Im

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

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

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

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