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

Lenger, 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 Lenger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lenger in America

Lenger is the 53913th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lenger surname appeared 383 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Lenger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lenger 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 Lenger

The surname Lenger is of German origin, with its roots traced back to the medieval period in the 14th century. It is believed to have originated in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, where it was commonly used as a descriptive surname.

Lenger is derived from the Middle High German word "lenger," which means "taller" or "longer." This suggests that the name was initially given as a nickname to individuals who were notably tall or had a slender, elongated physique. The practice of assigning descriptive surnames based on physical characteristics was quite common during that era.

Historical records indicate that the name Lenger appeared in various early manuscripts and documents, including the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of charters and deeds from the Kingdom of Saxony dating back to the 13th century. This suggests that the name was well-established in the region by that time.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Lenger can be found in the Stadtbuch von Mühlhausen, a municipal record book from the town of Mühlhausen in Thuringia, which mentions a certain Hans Lenger in an entry dated 1412.

Notable individuals bearing the Lenger surname throughout history include Johann Lenger (1561-1631), a German theologian and rector of the University of Marburg; Heinrich Lenger (1688-1756), a Dutch-German painter known for his landscapes and religious works; and Christoph Lenger (1788-1857), a German architect who designed several notable buildings in Berlin.

Other notable figures include Friedrich Lenger (1810-1891), a German mathematician and educator who made significant contributions to the field of geometry, and Wilhelm Lenger (1872-1942), a German politician and member of the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic.

It is worth noting that variations in spelling, such as Lenger, Lengerke, and Lengerth, were common in earlier times due to regional dialects and lack of standardized spelling conventions. Additionally, the surname Lenger may have derived from or been influenced by certain place names, such as Lengern, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lenger

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!