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

Koenig, 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 Koenig surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Koenig in America

Koenig is the 1592nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Koenig surname appeared 22,499 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Koenig.

We can also compare 2010 data for Koenig 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 Koenig

The surname Koenig is of German origin, derived from the German word "König" meaning "king". It originated in the Germanic regions of central Europe during the Middle Ages.

The name was initially used as a descriptive surname for someone who held a position of authority or power, similar to a king or ruler. It may have also been given to someone who had a regal bearing or appearance.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Koenig can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from the Kingdom of Saxony, which mentions a person named "Heinrich Koenig" in the year 1295.

In the 14th century, the name Koenig appeared in the Reichsmatrikel, an imperial register of estates in the Holy Roman Empire, which listed several individuals with this surname from various regions of Germany.

During the Renaissance period, a notable bearer of the name was Johannes Koenig, a German mathematician and astronomer born in 1618. He made significant contributions to the study of optics and the development of the telescope.

Another prominent figure with the surname Koenig was Johann Samuel Koenig, a German inventor born in 1712. He is credited with developing the first successful typesetting machine, which revolutionized the printing industry.

In the 19th century, the name Koenig was associated with Rudolph Koenig, a German physicist and acoustician born in 1832. He is renowned for his work on the physical principles of sound and the design of acoustical instruments.

The surname Koenig also has variations in spelling, such as König, Konig, and Koning, which can be found in different regions of Germany and the Netherlands.

Additionally, the name Koenig has been linked to various place names, such as Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), which means "King's Mountain", and Königsfeld, a town in the Black Forest region of Germany.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Koenig

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

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

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

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