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

Mager, 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 Mager surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mager in America

Mager is the 10721st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mager surname appeared 2,980 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 Mager.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mager 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 Mager

The surname Mager is believed to have originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the Middle High German word "mager," which means "thin" or "lean." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a descriptive nickname to someone of a slender build.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mager can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, dating back to the 13th century. The name is also mentioned in the Bürgermatrikel, the citizen registers of various German cities from the 14th and 15th centuries.

In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Mager was Johann Mager, a German theologian and reformer born in 1492. He was a follower of Martin Luther and played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation.

During the 17th century, the name Mager appeared in various records across Germany, including church registers and land deeds. One example is Hans Mager, a landowner from the town of Erfurt, who is mentioned in a document from 1638.

In the 18th century, Johann Georg Mager, a German composer and organist, was born in 1719. He was renowned for his works in the Baroque style and served as the court organist for the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.

The 19th century saw the name Mager spread beyond Germany, with individuals bearing this surname migrating to other parts of Europe and North America. One notable figure from this period was Karl Mager, a German-American artist and lithographer born in 1819, known for his intricate landscape paintings.

Another historical figure with the surname Mager was Theodor Mager, a German historian and genealogist born in 1842. He authored several books on the history and genealogy of noble families in Germany, contributing significantly to the study of family lineages.

As the name Mager has its roots in Germany, it is often associated with place names and geographic features in that region. For example, the town of Magerau in Bavaria may be related to the surname, as well as the Magerbach, a small river in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mager

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

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

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

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