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

Lorenz, 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 Lorenz surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lorenz in America

Lorenz is the 2483rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lorenz surname appeared 14,528 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Lorenz.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lorenz 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 Lorenz

The surname Lorenz originated in Germany and dates back to the medieval period. It is derived from the ancient Germanic name Laurentius, which in turn comes from the Latin name Laurentius, meaning "from Laurentum" or "laurel plant." Laurentum was an ancient town in Italy, and the laurel plant was a symbol of victory and honor in ancient Rome.

The name first appeared in written records in the 12th century as Lorentz or Lorenzer. It was initially concentrated in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, but over time it spread to other parts of Germany and neighboring countries like Austria and Switzerland.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lorenz can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, which mentions a certain "Henricus Lorenz" in the year 1230.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in the Matricula Nationis Germanicae, a register of German students at the University of Paris, with the entry "Petrus Lorencz de Nuremberga" (Peter Lorenz of Nuremberg) in 1389.

The Lorenz name was also present in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Weingartensis, a record of donations to the Weingarten Abbey in southwestern Germany, which listed a "Chunradus Lorenz" in 1362.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Lorenz, including:

1. Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989), an Austrian zoologist and ethologist who co-founded the field of ethology and is considered one of the founders of modern animal behavior studies.

2. Edward N. Lorenz (1917-2008), an American mathematician and meteorologist who pioneered the study of chaos theory and is best known for his discovery of the "butterfly effect."

3. Amanda Lorenz (born 1986), an American professional softball player who played for the United States national softball team and won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

4. Joseph Lorenz (1887-1975), an American football player and coach who served as the head coach for the University of Dayton and Ohio State University teams in the early 20th century.

5. Reinhold Lorenz (1856-1938), a German architect and urban planner who designed numerous notable buildings in Leipzig, including the Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (main railway station).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lorenz

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

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

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

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