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

Lamm, 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 Lamm surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lamm in America

Lamm is the 5680th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lamm surname appeared 6,105 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Lamm.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lamm 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 Lamm

The surname LAMM is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "lam" meaning "lamb". It emerged in the late 12th century as a descriptive nickname referring to someone with lamb-like qualities or perhaps someone who tended to sheep and lambs.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in the Würzburg census of 1285, which lists a "Heinricus Lamme". The Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburg, a collection of historical documents from the region of Brandenburg, also mentions a "Conradus Lam" in 1375.

During the 14th and 15th centuries, the name was particularly prevalent in the southern regions of Germany, such as Bavaria and Swabia. The variations "Lamme" and "Lämmlein" were also common during this period.

In the 16th century, the surname began to appear in other parts of Germany, as well as in neighboring countries like Switzerland and Austria. One notable bearer was Johann Lamm, a German theologian and reformer born in 1508 in Spalt, Bavaria.

The Lamm family can trace its roots back to the village of Lamm, located in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria. This place name, which dates back to the 13th century, likely contributed to the spread of the surname in the region.

Other notable individuals with the surname LAMM include:

1. Martin Lamm (1619-1672), a German Baroque composer and organist.
2. Johann Friedrich Lamm (1766-1828), a German architect and urban planner.
3. Franz Lamm (1799-1867), an Austrian painter and lithographer.
4. David Lamm (1850-1924), a German-American businessman and philanthropist.
5. Hans Lamm (1913-1985), a Swedish author and playwright.

The surname LAMM has a rich history rooted in the medieval German society, where it emerged as a descriptive nickname before spreading across the region and beyond.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lamm

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

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

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

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