2000
#11,832
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,425
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.90
Rare Last name
Mosser
An occupational surname for someone who gathered or traded in peat moss, or lived near a peat bog.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,561 Americans carry the last name Mosser. That puts it at #13,131 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 133,836 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Mosser surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.6K
1 in 133,836
Census rank
#13,131
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,233 bearers of the surname Mosser in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13131st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Mosser, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Mosser
The surname Mosser originated in the German-speaking regions of present-day Switzerland, particularly in the areas around the town of Mossau (now Möhlin) in the canton of Aargau. The name is believed to derive from the Middle High German word "mose," meaning "marsh" or "swamp," suggesting that the earliest bearers of the name may have lived near or worked in marshy areas.
Records of the name can be traced back to the 13th century, with mentions of individuals bearing variations such as Moser, Mosser, and Mossere in various Swiss and German documents. One of the earliest recorded instances is in a document from 1275, which mentions a certain "Heinricus dictus Moser" in the city of Basel.
The Mosser surname also appears in the Codex Manesse, a famous medieval German manuscript from the early 14th century, which contains a collection of poetry by various authors, including works by a poet named "Moser von Esslingen."
In the 15th century, the name is found in connection with several places in Switzerland, such as Mosseren (now Möhren) in the canton of Bern, and Mossacker, a village near Mossau. These place names likely influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname in different regions.
One notable bearer of the Mosser name was Hans Mosser (c. 1490-1552), a Swiss Protestant Reformer and theologian from the town of Mossau. He played a significant role in the spread of the Reformation in Switzerland and was a close associate of Huldrych Zwingli, the leader of the Swiss Reformation.
Another prominent figure was Johann Caspar Mosser (1676-1756), a Swiss-born mathematician and astronomer who worked at the University of Leipzig in Germany. He made important contributions to the fields of celestial mechanics and navigation.
In the 19th century, a family of Mossers from Switzerland emigrated to the United States, settling in Pennsylvania. One of their descendants, Jacob Mosser (1828-1910), became a prominent businessman and philanthropist in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania.
Other notable individuals with the Mosser surname include Max Mosser (1887-1970), an Austrian painter and printmaker known for his landscape and genre scenes, and Walter Mosser (1907-1985), a Swiss architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Zurich.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mosser
Among Census respondents with the surname Mosser, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Mosser bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Mosser surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.8% · 2,073
- Two or more races3.0% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 15
- Black or African American0.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Mosser
Mosser appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#12,312
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,525
+100 bearers (+4.1%)
Per 100,000 0.86
Rank movement Down 480 places
2020
#13,131
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,233
-292 bearers (-11.6%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Down 819 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,832 | 2,425 | 0.90 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,312 | 2,525 | 0.86 | +100 bearers (+4.1%) | Down 480 places |
| 2020 | #13,131 | 2,233 | 0.75 | -292 bearers (-11.6%) | Down 819 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Mosser surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #12,312 | #13,131 | -6.7% |
| Count | 2,525 | 2,233 | -11.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.86 | 0.75 | -13.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Mosser bearers went from 2,525 to 2,233 (-11.6% change). The surname moved down 819 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,312 to #13,131.
FAQ
Mosser surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Mosser?
Name Census estimates that about 2,561 living Americans carry the surname Mosser. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 133,836 residents.
How common is Mosser?
Mosser ranks #13,131 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,233 people with the surname Mosser. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,561), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.75 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.75 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Mosser.
Has Mosser become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Mosser went from 2,525 recorded bearers to 2,233. That is a decrease of 292 (-11.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,312 to #13,131.
What does the Census say about the background of Mosser?
Among Census respondents with the surname Mosser, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Hispanic (2.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Mosser in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (2,073 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Mosser appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.8%), Two or More Races (3.0%), Hispanic (2.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Mosser (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Mosser mean?
An occupational surname for someone who gathered or traded in peat moss, or lived near a peat bog. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Mosser (0.75 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Mosser?
If you just want to know how many Americans have the surname Mosser, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.