Milgram last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Milgram

A surname of German or Yiddish origin meaning "miller" or "grain grinder".

Milgram, 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 Milgram surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Milgram in America

Milgram is the 57101st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Milgram surname appeared 357 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 Milgram.

We can also compare 2010 data for Milgram 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 57101 63141 -10.05%
Count 357 296 18.68%
Proportion per 100k 0.12 0.11 8.70%

The history of the last name Milgram

The surname MILGRAM is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German words "mil" meaning "mile" and "gram" meaning "angry" or "hostile." It likely originated in the 12th or 13th century as a descriptive nickname for someone who lived or worked a long distance away from a town or village, and was perceived as unfriendly or ill-tempered towards others.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval German documents and records, such as the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, which mentions a "Milgram von Hagen" in 1274. In the 15th century, the name appears in the Patrician registers of the city of Nuremberg, with an entry for a "Hans Milgram" in 1453.

One of the earliest known bearers of the MILGRAM surname was Johann Milgram, a Protestant theologian and reformer born in Augsburg, Germany in 1501. He was a close associate of Martin Luther and played a significant role in the Reformation movement in southern Germany.

In the 17th century, the MILGRAM name can be found in various records from the Rhine region of Germany, including the birth record of Anna Maria Milgram in Heidelberg in 1623. Another notable bearer of the name from this period was Johann Georg Milgram (1629-1687), a German composer and organist who served as the Kapellmeister at the court of the Prince-Bishop of Bamberg.

As the MILGRAM name spread across Europe, it took on various spellings and variations, such as Milgrom, Milgrom, and Milgran. One of the earliest recorded instances of the Milgram spelling can be found in the birth record of Salomon Milgram in Prague in 1712.

In the 19th century, the MILGRAM surname gained prominence with the birth of the American psychologist Stanley Milgram (1933-1984), best known for his controversial obedience experiments. Another notable bearer of the name was the German-American philosopher and logician Arthur Milgram (1858-1923), who made significant contributions to the field of symbolic logic.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Milgram

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

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 Milgram was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 91.88% 328
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin 6.72% 24

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 Milgram has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 91.88% 96.28% -4.68%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Two or More Races (S)% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic 6.72% 2.36% 96.04%

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

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

Reference this page

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"Milgram last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on May 14, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/milgram-surname-popularity/.

"Milgram last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/milgram-surname-popularity/. Accessed 14 May, 2025

Milgram last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/milgram-surname-popularity/.

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