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

Lingenfelter, 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 Lingenfelter surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lingenfelter in America

Lingenfelter is the 9330th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lingenfelter surname appeared 3,491 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 Lingenfelter.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lingenfelter 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 Lingenfelter

The surname Lingenfelter is of German origin, believed to have emerged in the late 15th or early 16th century. It is derived from the German words "lingen" meaning "length" or "long," and "felter" referring to a field or clearing. Together, "Lingenfelter" likely referred to a long or elongated field or clearing.

The earliest known records of the Lingenfelter name can be traced back to the region of Saxony in modern-day eastern Germany. It is thought to have originated as a descriptive name for someone who lived near or owned a particularly long or narrow field or clearing. This was a common practice in medieval times, with surnames often reflecting geographic features, occupations, or personal characteristics.

One of the earliest known references to the Lingenfelter name appears in the municipal records of the town of Torgau, Saxony, in the year 1512. The record mentions a "Hans Lingenfelter" as a landowner and farmer in the area. Additionally, the name is found in various church records and tax rolls from the 16th and 17th centuries in the broader Saxony region.

In the 18th century, the Lingenfelter surname began to spread beyond Saxony as families migrated to other parts of Germany and neighboring countries. Notable individuals with the surname include Johann Lingenfelter (1732-1807), a prominent merchant and landowner in the city of Nuremberg, and Anna Lingenfelter (1765-1842), a renowned writer and poet from the town of Weimar.

As German immigration to North America increased in the 19th century, the Lingenfelter name was carried across the Atlantic. One of the earliest recorded instances in the United States is that of Christian Lingenfelter (1789-1865), who settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. His descendants later spread throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern regions.

Other notable individuals with the Lingenfelter surname include:

1. Johann Georg Lingenfelter (1811-1887), a German-American farmer and pioneer in the state of Wisconsin.
2. Maria Lingenfelter (1832-1909), a celebrated educator and advocate for women's rights in New York.
3. William Lingenfelter (1868-1942), an influential businessman and philanthropist in Detroit, Michigan.
4. Otto Lingenfelter (1892-1973), a renowned engineer and inventor known for his contributions to the automotive industry.
5. Kara Lingenfelter (born 1978), an accomplished author and journalist based in California.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lingenfelter

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

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

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

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