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

Nieman, 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 Nieman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nieman in America

Nieman is the 6857th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nieman surname appeared 4,907 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Nieman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nieman 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 Nieman

The surname NIEMAN has its origins in the Low German dialects spoken in northern Germany and the Netherlands. It is derived from the Old Low German word "nieman," which means "no one" or "nobody." This suggests that the name may have originally been a nickname or descriptive name given to someone who was considered insignificant or of little importance.

The earliest recorded instances of the NIEMAN surname date back to the 14th century in various regions of northern Germany and the Low Countries. One of the earliest known references can be found in the city records of Hamburg from the year 1379, where a man named Hinrich Nieman is mentioned.

In the Netherlands, the name appears in various historical documents from the 15th century onwards, particularly in the provinces of Friesland and Groningen. For example, a man named Symen Nieman is recorded as living in the village of Bierum, Groningen, in 1487.

One notable historical figure with the NIEMAN surname was Johann Nieman (1513-1588), a German theologian and reformer who played a role in the Protestant Reformation in the city of Lübeck. Another was Pieter Nieman (1634-1703), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his landscapes and maritime scenes.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the NIEMAN name spread throughout the German-speaking regions of Europe, as well as to other parts of the world through emigration. For instance, a man named Christoph Nieman (1680-1749) was a German-born settler who established a farm in the Schoharie Valley of New York in the early 1700s.

In the 19th century, the NIEMAN surname can be found in various places, including the United States and parts of Eastern Europe. Notable individuals from this period include Robert Nieman (1822-1898), a German-American military officer who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and Iwan Nieman (1844-1919), a Russian businessman and philanthropist who established the Nieman Foundation for journalism at Harvard University.

Throughout its history, the NIEMAN surname has also been recorded with various spelling variations, such as Niemann, Niemand, Niemants, and Niemantsverdriet, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the regions where it originated and was used.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nieman

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

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

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

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