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

Mems, 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 Mems surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mems in America

Mems is the 134712th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mems surname appeared 125 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Mems.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mems 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 Mems

The surname MEMS has its origins in the ancient Mesopotamian civilization, where it can be traced back to the Sumerian language spoken in the region around 3000 BC. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in a cuneiform tablet from the city of Uruk, which refers to a scribe named "Mem-su," meaning "son of the water" or "born by the river."

The name likely evolved from a combination of the Sumerian words "mu" (water) and "eme" (tongue or language), suggesting that the bearers of this name were associated with professions related to water or language, such as scribes, poets, or storytellers. As the Sumerian culture spread across Mesopotamia, the name MEMS may have been adopted by other Semitic and Indo-European groups in the region.

In the Middle Ages, the name MEMS appeared in various European records, often spelled as "Memmes" or "Memmys." One notable figure from this period was Memmo de Memmo, a wealthy Venetian merchant and statesman who lived from 1265 to 1327. He played a significant role in the political affairs of the Republic of Venice and was known for his diplomatic skills in negotiating trade agreements with neighboring states.

During the Renaissance, the name MEMS gained prominence in the arts and literature. Girolamo Mems (1490-1558) was an Italian painter from the Venetian school, renowned for his portraits and religious works. His contemporaries included the renowned poet Bernardo Mems (1501-1564), whose works celebrated the beauty of nature and human emotion.

In the 18th century, a notable bearer of the MEMS surname was Jean-Pierre Mems (1738-1815), a French philosopher and political theorist. His writings on individual liberty and social reform influenced the intellectual discourse of the Enlightenment period.

Another prominent figure with the MEMS surname was Elisabeth Mems (1876-1942), a pioneering German physicist and one of the first women to receive a doctorate in physics from the University of Göttingen. Her contributions to the study of radioactivity and atomic structure were groundbreaking, and she faced significant obstacles as a woman in the male-dominated field of science at the time.

While the surname MEMS may have originated in ancient Mesopotamia, it has since spread across various cultures and regions, with bearers making significant contributions to diverse fields throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mems

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

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

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

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