Kummer last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Kummer

A German occupational surname derived from the Middle High German word "kumber," meaning grief, sorrow, or trouble.

Kummer, 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 Kummer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kummer in America

Kummer is the 9679th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kummer surname appeared 3,354 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 Kummer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kummer 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 9679 10582 -8.91%
Count 3,354 2,782 18.64%
Proportion per 100k 1.14 1.03 10.14%

The history of the last name Kummer

The surname Kummer is of German origin, with its roots traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old German word "Kummer," which means "sorrow" or "grief." This name likely originated as a nickname or descriptive name given to someone who had a solemn or melancholic demeanor.

In the early 13th century, the name Kummer appeared in various Germanic regions, including what is now modern-day Germany and Austria. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, where a certain "Henricus Kummer" is mentioned in a document dated 1241.

The name Kummer has also been associated with several notable figures throughout history. One such figure is Ernst Eduard Kummer, a renowned German mathematician who lived from 1810 to 1893. He made significant contributions to the fields of algebraic number theory and the theory of ideals.

Another prominent individual with the surname Kummer was Friedrich August Kummer, a German architect born in 1797. He was known for his neoclassical designs and his work on the reconstruction of the Berlin Royal Palace in the early 19th century.

In the 16th century, the name Kummer appeared in the records of the city of Nuremberg, where a family of tanners and leather workers carried this surname. One member of this family, Hans Kummer, is mentioned in the city's guild records from 1562.

The name Kummer has also been linked to various place names in Germany, such as Kummersbrunn, a village in Bavaria, and Kummersdorf, a former military training ground in Brandenburg. These place names may have derived from the surname or vice versa, indicating the potential geographical roots of the name.

Other notable individuals with the surname Kummer include Friedrich Kummer, a German composer and conductor who lived from 1797 to 1879, and Hermann Kummer, a German politician and member of the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) in the late 19th century.

It is worth noting that while the surname Kummer has its origins in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and diaspora. However, the historical records and references mentioned above provide insights into the early development and prevalence of this surname within the German-speaking regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kummer

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

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 Kummer was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 95.71% 3,210
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.25% 42
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.22% 41
Hispanic Origin 1.55% 52

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 Kummer has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 95.71% 96.62% -0.95%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.25% 1.04% 18.34%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.22% 0.97% 22.83%
Hispanic 1.55% 1.11% 33.08%

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

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

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"Kummer last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/kummer-surname-popularity/.

"Kummer last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/kummer-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Kummer last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/kummer-surname-popularity/.

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