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

Mach, 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 Mach surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mach in America

Mach is the 6692nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mach surname appeared 5,047 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 Mach.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mach 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 Mach

The surname Mach is of German origin, derived from the Old High German word "maht," which means "power" or "might." This name is believed to have originated in the 12th or 13th century in various parts of Germany.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mach can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval documents from the Kingdom of Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. The name is also mentioned in the Mühlhäuser Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical records from the city of Mühlhausen, in the present-day state of Thuringia, Germany.

The name Mach has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest and most famous bearers of this surname was Ernst Mach, an Austrian physicist and philosopher born in 1838 and died in 1916. He is renowned for his contributions to the study of supersonic motion and the psychological representation of sensory experiences.

Another prominent figure with the surname Mach was David Mach, a Scottish sculptor and artist born in 1956. He is best known for his large-scale public installations and sculptures made from various found objects and materials.

In the literary world, the German writer and journalist Gustav Mach, born in 1835 and died in 1920, gained recognition for his works on social and political issues in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The name Mach has also been linked to various place names in Germany. For instance, the town of Machern in Saxony and the village of Machendorf in Lower Saxony are both derived from the surname Mach.

Over the centuries, the name Mach has undergone various spellings, including Mache, Mache, and Machener, reflecting regional variations and linguistic changes. However, the core meaning of the name, associated with power and might, has remained consistent throughout its history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mach

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Mach, 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!