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

Kruse, 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 Kruse surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kruse in America

Kruse is the 1741st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kruse surname appeared 20,584 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 7 people would have the surname Kruse.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kruse 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 Kruse

The surname Kruse has its origins in Germany and is believed to have derived from the Old German word 'krus' or 'kraus', meaning 'curly-haired'. It was initially an occupational name referring to someone with curly or kinky hair.

The earliest known record of the name dates back to the early 12th century, where it appears in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval records from the region of Saxony. The spelling variations found in these records include 'Kruse', 'Crusius', and 'Cruwel'.

In the 13th century, the name Kruse can be found in the Urbarii Ducatus Geldriae, a record of landholdings in the Duchy of Guelders, located in present-day Netherlands and Germany. This suggests that the name had spread beyond its initial origins in Saxony.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Kruse was Hermann Kruse, a German philosopher and theologian born in 1501 in Grevenbroich, Rhineland. He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and served as a professor at the University of Marburg.

During the 16th century, the name Kruse was also associated with the town of Kruse (now known as Kruszyn) in the Pomeranian region of modern-day Poland. It is possible that some individuals with this surname may have derived their name from this place name.

Another notable figure with the surname Kruse was Christian Kruse, a Danish botanist and physician born in 1753. He made significant contributions to the study of flora in Denmark and was a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

In the 19th century, the German composer and organist Johann Kruse (1859-1927) gained recognition for his compositions and his work as a church organist in Göttingen.

The name Kruse has also been associated with several place names in Germany, such as Kruse-Berge (Kruse Mountains) in Lower Saxony and Kruse-Mühle (Kruse Mill) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Other notable individuals with the surname Kruse include Tobias Kruse (1718-1796), a German jurist and professor of law at the University of Leipzig, and Jürgen Kruse (1910-1973), a German actor and film director active in the mid-20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kruse

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

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

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

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