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

Nass, 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 Nass surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nass in America

Nass is the 14489th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nass surname appeared 2,060 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Nass.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nass 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 Nass

The surname NASS originated in Germany during the late medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the German word "nass," which means "wet" or "damp." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a descriptive nickname to someone who lived near a body of water or in a particularly rainy area.

One of the earliest documented references to the surname NASS can be found in the records of the city of Cologne, where a certain Johannes Nass was mentioned in a legal document dated 1387. In the 15th century, the name appeared in various forms, such as Nasse and Nassen, in different regions of Germany.

During the 16th century, the surname NASS started to spread beyond Germany's borders. In 1521, a merchant named Hans Nass was recorded in the city archives of Amsterdam, indicating that the name had made its way to the Netherlands.

One notable historical figure bearing the surname NASS was Johann Nass, a German Protestant theologian and reformer who lived from 1534 to 1590. He played a significant role in the Reformation movement and authored several influential works on theology and church doctrine.

Another noteworthy individual with the surname NASS was Johann Matthias Nass, a German composer and violinist who lived from 1685 to 1763. He was a renowned musician in his time and served as the court composer for the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt.

In the 18th century, the surname NASS appeared in various records across Europe. For example, a certain Johann Nass was listed as a landowner in the village of Mönchengladbach, located in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in 1732.

As people began to migrate to different parts of the world, the surname NASS spread further. In the 19th century, there were instances of individuals bearing the name NASS in areas such as the United States and Canada, likely descendants of German immigrants.

It is worth noting that the surname NASS may also have originated independently in other parts of Europe or even other parts of the world, as similar-sounding names can sometimes arise spontaneously in different regions due to shared linguistic roots or descriptive meanings.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nass

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

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

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

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