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

Mohs, 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 Mohs surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mohs in America

Mohs is the 23647th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mohs surname appeared 1,072 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 Mohs.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mohs 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 Mohs

The surname MOHS is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated in the region of Saxony, where it was derived from the German word "Mohs," which referred to a type of marshy or swampy land.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the MOHS surname can be found in the parish records of St. Peter's Church in Leipzig, dating back to 1587. The name appears in an entry documenting the baptism of a child named Hans MOHS, son of a farmer named Christoph MOHS.

In the 17th century, the MOHS name gained prominence in the town of Zwickau, located in the modern-day state of Saxony. Several MOHS families were recorded as landowners and merchants in the town's archives from that period.

A notable figure with the MOHS surname was Johann Friedrich MOHS (1773-1839), a German mineralogist who developed the Mohs Hardness Scale, a widely used scale for measuring the hardness of minerals. This scale remains an important tool in the field of mineralogy to this day.

Another individual of historical significance was Karl Friedrich MOHS (1806-1873), a German botanist and explorer who conducted extensive research on the flora of South America. He is credited with discovering and documenting numerous plant species native to the region.

In the 19th century, the MOHS surname began to spread beyond Germany as members of the family migrated to other parts of Europe and the Americas. One such individual was Heinrich MOHS (1818-1892), a German-born architect who settled in New York City and contributed to the design of several notable buildings, including the Old Mercantile Library.

During the early 20th century, the MOHS name gained notoriety in the field of medicine with the work of Dr. Frederic Mohs (1910-2002), an American surgeon who pioneered the Mohs Micrographic Surgery technique for treating skin cancer. This groundbreaking procedure has since become a widely accepted and effective treatment method.

Other notable individuals with the MOHS surname include Ernst MOHS (1892-1968), a German-born American physicist who made significant contributions to the study of semiconductors and solid-state physics, and Heinz MOHS (1914-2001), a German-American artist and sculptor known for his abstract expressionist works.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mohs

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

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

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

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