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

Kober, 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 Kober surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kober in America

Kober is the 11189th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kober surname appeared 2,826 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 Kober.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kober 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 Kober

The surname Kober is of German origin, with its roots traced back to the late Middle Ages in the regions of present-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is believed to have derived from the German word "Kober," which referred to a basket or a cage made of woven twigs or rods.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, the name Kober was commonly associated with basket makers or weavers who specialized in crafting these woven containers. As surnames became more widespread during this period, individuals often adopted their occupational titles as hereditary family names, leading to the emergence of the surname Kober.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kober can be found in the Liber Censualis, a medieval census record from the city of Nuremberg, dating back to the late 15th century. This document lists several individuals bearing the surname Kober, indicating its presence in the region during that time.

In the 16th century, the name Kober appeared in various German-language manuscripts and records, such as the Kirchenbücher (church books) of various towns and villages. These records often mentioned individuals with variations of the spelling, including Kober, Koberger, and Koberer.

One notable figure bearing the Kober surname was Johann Koberger (c.1440-1513), a renowned printer and publisher from Nuremberg. He was instrumental in the early days of the printing industry and played a significant role in the dissemination of knowledge during the Renaissance period.

Another prominent individual with the Kober surname was Johann Philipp Kober (1756-1847), a German lawyer and legal scholar from Bavaria. He authored several influential works on civil law and served as a judge in various courts throughout his career.

In the 19th century, the Kober surname gained recognition in the field of mathematics with the contributions of Johann Balthasar Kober (1808-1856), a German mathematician and educator. He is particularly known for his work on the theory of equations and for publishing several textbooks on mathematics.

The name Kober also has ties to historical place names, such as Kobersdorf, a town in the Austrian state of Burgenland, and Kobern, a municipality in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. These place names may have influenced the formation of the surname or been influenced by individuals bearing the name.

Throughout history, the surname Kober has been carried by numerous individuals across various professions and disciplines, including writers, artists, scientists, and academics. Some notable examples include Hans Kober (1888-1948), an Austrian writer and poet, and Karl Kober (1857-1927), a German botanist and explorer.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kober

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

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

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

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