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

Kruger, 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 Kruger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kruger in America

Kruger is the 2591st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kruger surname appeared 13,898 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Kruger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kruger 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 Kruger

The surname Kruger has its origins in the Low German region of northern Germany and the Netherlands. It is derived from the Middle Low German word "kruger," which means "tavern keeper" or "innkeeper." This occupational surname suggests that the first bearers of this name were individuals who operated inns or taverns.

The name Kruger can be traced back to the 13th century in various historical records from the region. One of the earliest known references to the surname is found in the municipal records of Lübeck, a prominent Hanseatic city in northern Germany, where a certain Hinrich Kruger was mentioned in 1289.

During the Middle Ages, the surname Kruger appeared in various spellings, such as Krüger, Krüger, and Krüger, reflecting the regional variations in the Low German language. These variations were often influenced by local dialects and scribal practices.

In the 16th century, the surname Kruger gained prominence with the rise of the Kruger family, a influential merchant dynasty in the city of Lübeck. Notable members of this family include Hinrich Kruger (1515-1587), a wealthy merchant and city councilor, and Jurgen Kruger (1545-1612), a prominent Lübeck mayor.

Another notable figure bearing the surname Kruger was Paul Kruger (1825-1904), a leading Afrikaner military leader and statesman who served as the President of the South African Republic (Transvaal) from 1883 to 1900. He played a pivotal role in the Second Boer War against the British Empire.

In the Netherlands, the surname Kruger has been associated with several notable individuals, including Jacobus Cornelis Kruger (1837-1909), a Dutch jurist and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1897 to 1901.

Other prominent individuals with the surname Kruger include Franz Kruger (1837-1915), a German composer and music teacher, and Gerhard Kruger (1915-1992), a German-American architect known for his modernist designs.

While the surname Kruger originated in the Low German region, it has since spread to other parts of Europe and beyond, carried by migrations and diasporas over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kruger

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

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

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

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