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

Janning, 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 Janning surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Janning in America

Janning is the 51723rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Janning surname appeared 402 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 Janning.

We can also compare 2010 data for Janning 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 Janning

The surname JANNING originated in the German states in the 12th century. It is a variant of the German word "Janne" which is a diminutive form of the personal name Johann or John. The name likely referred to someone as "little John" or "son of John".

Some of the earliest records of the JANNING surname can be found in medieval documents from the Rhineland region of Germany. The name appeared in various spellings such as Jenning, Jenninge, and Jenninghe in these old manuscripts and records.

One of the earliest known bearers of the JANNING name was Heinrich Janning, a merchant from the city of Cologne who lived in the late 14th century. There are also records of a family with the name Janning residing in the town of Essen in the 15th century.

In the 16th century, the JANNING surname began to spread beyond the German states. A notable figure was Dirk Janning, a Dutch explorer and cartographer who mapped parts of the West Indies and South America in the 1580s.

The name JANNING also made its way to England by the 17th century. One of the earliest recorded English bearers was Thomas Janning, a merchant from London who was born in 1632. His descendants can be traced through parish records in various parts of England.

Another significant individual with the JANNING surname was Johann Janning, a German philosopher and theologian born in 1701. He wrote several influential works on ethics and moral philosophy during the Age of Enlightenment.

As the JANNING name spread across Europe, it also took on variations in spelling such as Jenning, Jennings, and Jennyns. Some of these variants were influenced by local dialects and languages in different regions.

Throughout its long history, the JANNING surname has been borne by numerous other notable individuals, including artists, scholars, and military figures. However, the origins of this name can be traced back to the humble roots of a diminutive form of Johann or John in medieval Germany.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Janning

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

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

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

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