2000
#8,699
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,478
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.29
Rare Last name
Mellinger
A German occupational surname derived from the Middle High German word "melliger," meaning a salt maker or dealer.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,745 Americans carry the last name Mellinger. That puts it at #9,521 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.09 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 91,523 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mellinger surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
3.7K
1 in 91,523
Census rank
#9,521
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 3,266 bearers of the surname Mellinger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.09 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 9521st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mellinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mellinger
The surname Mellinger is of German origin, originating in the regions of Bavaria and Württemberg in southern Germany. It is thought to derive from the Old German word "mellin," meaning "to grind" or "to mill," suggesting that the name was likely originally an occupational surname for a miller.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Würzburg census records of 1497, where a Hans Mellinger is listed as a resident. Another early reference is found in the town records of Esslingen, Württemberg, where a Jakob Mellinger is mentioned in 1521.
The name appears to have spread throughout southern Germany and into neighboring regions in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1589, a Johannes Mellinger is recorded as a landowner in the village of Oberelsbach, near Würzburg. A few decades later, in 1632, a Georg Mellinger is mentioned in the parish records of Schwäbisch Hall, a town in what is now Baden-Württemberg.
As the name became more widespread, variations in spelling emerged, such as Mellinger, Mellenger, and Melinger. In the 18th century, a notable bearer of the name was Johann Caspar Mellinger (1706-1783), a German theologian and author who served as a professor at the University of Tübingen.
Another significant figure was Friedrich Mellinger (1827-1898), a German-born American brewer who founded the Mellinger Brewing Company in Philadelphia in 1857. His brewery played a significant role in the city's brewing industry during the late 19th century.
In more recent history, Karl Mellinger (1897-1983) was a German politician and member of the Nazi Party who served as the Gauleiter of Saxony from 1933 to 1945. He was convicted of war crimes after World War II and sentenced to prison.
While the name is most commonly associated with Germany, it has also spread to other parts of the world through emigration. For example, in the United States, one notable bearer was George Mellinger (1895-1966), a Major League Baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox in the 1920s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mellinger
Among Census respondents with the surname Mellinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Mellinger bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Mellinger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.9% · 3,067
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 87
- Two or more races2.2% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 20
- Black or African American0.5% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mellinger
Mellinger appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#8,617
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,818
+340 bearers (+9.8%)
Per 100,000 1.29
Rank movement Up 82 places
2020
#9,521
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,266
-552 bearers (-14.5%)
Per 100,000 1.09
Rank movement Down 904 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #8,699 | 3,478 | 1.29 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #8,617 | 3,818 | 1.29 | +340 bearers (+9.8%) | Up 82 places |
| 2020 | #9,521 | 3,266 | 1.09 | -552 bearers (-14.5%) | Down 904 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Mellinger surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #8,617 | #9,521 | -10.5% |
| Count | 3,818 | 3,266 | -14.5% |
| Per 100K | 1.29 | 1.09 | -15.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mellinger bearers went from 3,818 to 3,266 (-14.5% change). The surname moved down 904 positions in the national ranking, going from #8,617 to #9,521.
FAQ
Mellinger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mellinger?
Name Census estimates that about 3,745 living Americans carry the surname Mellinger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 91,523 residents.
How common is Mellinger?
Mellinger ranks #9,521 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.09 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 3,266 people with the surname Mellinger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,745), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.09 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.09 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Mellinger.
Has Mellinger become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mellinger went from 3,818 recorded bearers to 3,266. That is a decrease of 552 (-14.5%). In the national ranking it fell from #8,617 to #9,521.
What does the Census say about the background of Mellinger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mellinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.7%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Mellinger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.9% (3,067 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mellinger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.9%), Hispanic (2.7%), Two or More Races (2.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Mellinger (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Mellinger mean?
A German occupational surname derived from the Middle High German word "melliger," meaning a salt maker or dealer. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Mellinger (1.09 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Mellinger?
You can see how common the surname Mellinger is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.