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

Neff, 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 Neff surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Neff in America

Neff is the 1577th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Neff surname appeared 22,764 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Neff.

We can also compare 2010 data for Neff 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 Neff

The surname NEFF originated in Germany and Switzerland in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old High German word "nevo," meaning nephew or cousin. This suggests that the name initially referred to a familial relationship or kinship tie.

One of the earliest recorded references to the NEFF surname appears in the town records of Freiburg im Breisgau, a city in southwestern Germany, dating back to the 13th century. The name was also found in various Swiss records from the same period, such as the Rödel von Nidwalden from 1296.

In the 14th century, the NEFF surname appears in the Berner Schreiberrodel, a register of scribes and officials in the city of Bern, Switzerland. Notable examples include Johannes Neff, a scribe mentioned in 1337, and Hensli Neff, a citizen of Bern recorded in 1349.

The NEFF name can also be traced to various place names in Germany and Switzerland, such as Neftenbach, a town in the Swiss canton of Zurich, and Neffelbach, a village in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. These place names likely originated from the same root word as the surname.

One of the earliest documented individuals with the NEFF surname was Felix Neff, a Protestant missionary born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1798. He was known for his work in the French Alps and is commemorated with a statue in Grenoble, France.

Another notable figure was Johann Jakob Neff, a Swiss painter and engraver born in Zurich in 1784. He is known for his landscapes and vedute (cityscape paintings) depicting scenes from Switzerland and Italy.

In the 19th century, Johan Neff was a Swiss soldier and military leader who served in the Napoleonic Wars. He was born in Bern in 1765 and participated in several major battles, including the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.

The NEFF surname also gained prominence in the United States, where it was brought by German and Swiss immigrants. One notable American was Thomas E. Neff, a businessman and politician from Ohio who served as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Ohio from 1893 to 1895.

In literature, the German writer and poet Theodor Neff, born in Stuttgart in 1805, is remembered for his contributions to the Swabian dialect poetry movement in the 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Neff

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

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

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

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