2000
#14,195
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,941
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.72
Rare Last name
Lage
A topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a hollow or small valley.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,271 Americans carry the last name Lage. That puts it at #14,490 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.66 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 150,927 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Lage surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Lage with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 150,927
Census rank
#14,490
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,980 bearers of the surname Lage in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.66 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14490th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Lage, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.9%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Lage
The surname LAGE is believed to have originated in Northern Germany, most likely in the Hanseatic city of Lübeck, during the 13th or 14th century. It is thought to be derived from the Low German word "lage," which means "low-lying" or "situated in a valley." This suggests that the name may have initially been a descriptive term for someone who lived in a low-lying area or a valley.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name LAGE can be found in the Lübeck city records from the late 14th century, where it appears as "Laghe." This spelling variation likely reflects the regional pronunciation at the time. Another early reference is in the Mecklenburg census records of the late 15th century, where the name is spelled "Lage."
In the 16th century, the name LAGE began to spread beyond Northern Germany, appearing in records from various parts of the Holy Roman Empire. One notable example is Hans Lage, a merchant from Bremen who traded extensively with the Netherlands and England in the mid-1500s.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the LAGE surname continued to be found throughout Northern Germany and the surrounding regions. Johann Lage, a historian from Lübeck who lived from 1589 to 1667, wrote several works on the history of his hometown and the Hanseatic League.
As the name spread further afield, it also underwent various spelling variations. In the Netherlands, for instance, it was sometimes rendered as "Laghe" or "Laege." One of the earliest recorded examples of this variation is Pieter Laghe, a Dutch merchant from Amsterdam who lived in the late 16th century.
While the LAGE name remained concentrated in Northern Germany and the Low Countries for many centuries, it eventually made its way to other parts of Europe and even overseas. For example, there are records of a family named LAGE living in the Swedish province of Skåne in the late 18th century.
Another notable individual with the LAGE surname was Friedrich Lage, a German-American artist and painter who lived from 1808 to 1876. He was born in Hanover, Germany, but emigrated to the United States in the mid-19th century and became known for his landscapes and portraits.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lage
Among Census respondents with the surname Lage, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.9%) and Two or More Races (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Lage bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Lage surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.2% · 1,588
- Hispanic or Latino14.9% · 295
- Two or more races2.6% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 20
- Black or African American0.9% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Lage
Lage appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#14,681
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,026
+85 bearers (+4.4%)
Per 100,000 0.69
Rank movement Down 486 places
2020
#14,490
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,980
-46 bearers (-2.3%)
Per 100,000 0.66
Rank movement Up 191 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,195 | 1,941 | 0.72 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,681 | 2,026 | 0.69 | +85 bearers (+4.4%) | Down 486 places |
| 2020 | #14,490 | 1,980 | 0.66 | -46 bearers (-2.3%) | Up 191 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Lage surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #14,681 | #14,490 | 1.3% |
| Count | 2,026 | 1,980 | -2.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.69 | 0.66 | -4.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Lage bearers went from 2,026 to 1,980 (-2.3% change). The surname moved up 191 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,681 to #14,490.
FAQ
Lage surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Lage?
Name Census estimates that about 2,271 living Americans carry the surname Lage. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 150,927 residents.
How common is Lage?
Lage ranks #14,490 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.66 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,980 people with the surname Lage. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,271), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.66 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.66 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Lage.
Has Lage become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Lage went from 2,026 recorded bearers to 1,980. That is a decrease of 46 (-2.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #14,681 to #14,490.
What does the Census say about the background of Lage?
Among Census respondents with the surname Lage, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.9%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Lage in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.2% (1,588 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Lage appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (80.2%), Hispanic (14.9%), Two or More Races (2.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Lage (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Lage mean?
A topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a hollow or small valley. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Lage (0.66 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Lage?
If you just want to know how many people are called Lage, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.