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

Luft, 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 Luft surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Luft in America

Luft is the 12218th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Luft surname appeared 2,548 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 Luft.

We can also compare 2010 data for Luft 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 Luft

The surname LUFT is of German origin, derived from the Old High German word "luft" meaning "air" or "sky." This name was likely first used as a descriptive surname for someone who lived in a high or airy location.

The earliest recorded instances of the name LUFT date back to the 13th century in various regions of Germany. In the Codex Diplomatics Saxoniae Regiae, a document from 1285, there is a record of a person named "Henricus Luft" from the town of Bautzen in Saxony.

Another early reference to the name can be found in the Stadtbuch von Augsburg, a city record book from Augsburg, Bavaria, where a "Hans Luft" is mentioned in an entry from 1312.

The name LUFT was also present in other parts of Germany during the Middle Ages. In the Urkundenbuch der Stadt Hildesheim, a collection of documents from the city of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, there is a record of a "Conradus Luft" from 1341.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Johannes Luft, a German scholar and theologian born in Hessen in 1501. He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and authored several works on theology.

Another notable person with the surname LUFT was Johann Friedrich Luft, a German poet and writer born in Saxony in 1671. He was known for his satirical works and was a member of the Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, a prestigious literary society of the time.

In the 17th century, the name LUFT also appeared in various place names across Germany, such as Luftkurort (air resort), Luftberg (air mountain), and Luftau (air meadow), reflecting the meaning of the name.

The surname LUFT can also be found in other parts of Europe, including the Netherlands and Switzerland, likely due to migration from Germany over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Luft

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

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

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

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