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

Knaus, 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 Knaus surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Knaus in America

Knaus is the 14558th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Knaus surname appeared 2,047 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 Knaus.

We can also compare 2010 data for Knaus 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 Knaus

The surname Knaus is of German origin, with roots dating back to the 14th century in the regions of Bavaria and Swabia. It is derived from the Old High German word "knollo," which referred to a rounded hillock or knoll. This suggests that the name may have initially been a descriptive surname for someone who lived near or on a small hill.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Knaus can be found in the Bavarian town of Landshut, where a certain Johann Knaus was mentioned in a municipal record from 1375. Another early reference comes from the town of Nördlingen in Swabia, where a Heinz Knaus was listed in a tax register from 1412.

In the 16th century, the name Knaus began to appear more frequently in various historical documents across southern Germany. For example, in the records of the Imperial City of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a Balthasar Knaus was mentioned as a respected citizen in 1543.

The name Knaus is also connected to several place names in Germany, such as Knausmühle (Knaus Mill) and Knausheide (Knaus Heath), further reinforcing its geographical associations.

One notable figure bearing the surname Knaus was the German painter, Ludwig Knaus (1829-1910), who was renowned for his genre paintings depicting scenes of everyday life in the 19th century. Another famous Knaus was the Austrian poet and dramatist, Friedrich Halm (1806-1871), whose birth name was Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen, but who adopted the pen name Friedrick Halm, derived from his mother's maiden name of Knaus.

Other historical figures with the surname Knaus include Johann Nepomuk Knaus (1781-1857), a German Catholic theologian and professor at the University of Freiburg, and Johann Baptist Knaus (1637-1696), a German Catholic priest and composer of sacred music.

The surname Knaus has also been found in various spellings throughout history, such as Knaus, Knauß, Knauss, and Knaus, reflecting regional variations in orthography and pronunciation.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Knaus

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

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

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

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