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

Moe, 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 Moe surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Moe in America

Moe is the 3238th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Moe surname appeared 11,150 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Moe.

We can also compare 2010 data for Moe 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 Moe

The surname "Moe" is believed to have originated in Germany, specifically in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Germanic word "muohi," meaning "marshy meadow" or "swamp," suggesting that the earliest bearers of this surname lived near or worked on marshy lands.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name "Moe" can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, dating back to the 12th century. The name is mentioned in reference to a landowner named "Heinrich Muohe" in the year 1162.

In the 13th century, the name "Moe" appeared in various forms, such as "Mue," "Muwe," and "Muh," reflecting regional spelling variations. These variations can be found in the Breviarium Monasterii Campi Sancti, a historical record from the monastery of Kamp in the Netherlands, where a certain "Johannes Mue" is mentioned in 1278.

The Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and property in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086, does not contain any direct references to the surname "Moe." However, it is possible that some early bearers of the name migrated to England from continental Europe during the Norman Conquest or in subsequent centuries.

Notable individuals throughout history who bore the surname "Moe" include:

1. Hans Moe (c. 1515-1589), a German painter and engraver known for his religious artwork in the Renaissance style.
2. Jørgen Moe (1813-1882), a Norwegian scholar and writer who, along with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, collected and published a famous anthology of Norwegian folk tales.
3. Martha Moe (1855-1925), a Norwegian painter and one of the first women to receive formal art training in Norway.
4. Henry Allen Moe (1894-1975), an American educator and the sixth president of the Guggenheim Foundation.
5. Vebjørn Moe (1911-1982), a Norwegian architect and urban planner who played a significant role in the reconstruction of Oslo after World War II.

While the surname "Moe" has spread to various parts of the world due to migration and immigration, its roots can be traced back to the marshy regions of Germany, where it originated as a descriptive name for those who lived or worked in swampy areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Moe

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

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

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

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