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

Kroeger, 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 Kroeger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kroeger in America

Kroeger is the 7552nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kroeger surname appeared 4,402 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 Kroeger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kroeger 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 Kroeger

The surname Kroeger originated in Germany, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is derived from the occupational name "Kroger," meaning "innkeeper" or "tavern keeper." The name is believed to have originated in the northern German regions of Lower Saxony and Westphalia, where many early Kroeger families were innkeepers or operated taverns.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kroeger is found in the Kirchenbücher (church records) of Hannover, Germany, where a Johann Kroeger was mentioned in 1562. The name also appears in the Bürgerbücher (citizen registers) of various towns in Lower Saxony and Westphalia throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Kroeger surname has variant spellings such as Krüger, Krüeger, and Krueger, which reflect regional dialect differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time. Some of these variants may have originated from place names like Krügersdorf or Krügerau, where early Kroeger families established roots.

In the late 18th century, a notable figure named Johann Friedrich Kroeger (1759-1827) was a German philologist and scholar who published works on ancient Greek literature and language. Another notable Kroeger was Johann Gottfried Kroeger (1783-1854), a German theologian and author of numerous religious texts.

During the 19th century, many Kroeger families immigrated to the United States, particularly to the Midwestern states like Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri. One of the early Kroeger settlers was Wilhelm Kroeger (1810-1892), who arrived in Wisconsin in the 1850s and established a successful farming community.

Another prominent figure with the Kroeger surname was August Kroeger (1875-1958), a German-American architect and designer who is best known for his work on the iconic St. Louis Union Station in Missouri. His buildings and structures can be found across various cities in the United States.

The surname Kroeger has also been associated with several influential musicians and artists throughout history. One such figure was Ernst Kroeger (1862-1934), a German-American pianist and composer who taught at renowned music conservatories in the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kroeger

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

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

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

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