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

Messner, 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 Messner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Messner in America

Messner is the 6701st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Messner surname appeared 5,039 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 Messner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Messner 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 Messner

The surname Messner is of German origin, deriving from the Middle High German word "messenære," which referred to someone who rang the church bell or served as a sexton. This occupational surname originated in the regions of Bavaria and Austria during the 13th century.

The earliest known record of the name appears in a Bavarian document from 1285, where a "Chunrat der Mesner" is mentioned. The name was also found in various forms, such as Messner, Messener, and Mesner, in medieval records from cities like Munich and Salzburg.

One of the earliest noteworthy individuals with the surname was Johannes Messner, a German composer and organist born in Nuremberg in 1562. His compositions, particularly his organ works, were highly regarded during the Renaissance period.

In the 17th century, a prominent figure named Johann Messner (1624-1689) was a Protestant theologian and author from Strasbourg, known for his writings on Christian doctrine and ethics.

The name Messner also has connections to places like Messnerhaus, a hamlet in the Austrian state of Tyrol, which derived its name from the Messner family who resided there.

Among the famous individuals with the surname Messner is Reinhold Messner, an Italian mountaineer and explorer born in 1944. He is renowned for being the first person to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders (peaks over 8,000 meters) without supplemental oxygen.

Another notable Messner was Siegfried Messner (1896-1944), an Austrian chess master and one of the strongest players in the world during the 1920s and 1930s.

In more recent history, Günther Messner (1946-2005) was a German actor and comedian known for his roles in various television shows and films in Germany.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Messner

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

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

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

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