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

Oehrlein, 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 Oehrlein surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oehrlein in America

Oehrlein is the 58735th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oehrlein surname appeared 345 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 Oehrlein.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oehrlein 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 Oehrlein

The surname OEHRLEIN originated in Germany, likely emerging during the late medieval period or early modern era, around the 15th to 17th centuries. It is derived from the German word "Ohr," meaning "ear," combined with the diminutive suffix "-lein," indicating a small or diminutive form. Thus, the name OEHRLEIN may have initially referred to a person with a distinctive or small ear shape.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the OEHRLEIN surname appears in the town records of Nuremberg, Germany, in the late 16th century. The name was also found in various church registers and baptismal records from the region during the 17th and 18th centuries, with spellings such as "Oehrlin," "Oehrle," and "Oehrlen."

The OEHRLEIN name has been associated with several notable individuals throughout history. Johann Georg Oehrlein (1644-1698) was a German jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor of law at the University of Wittenberg. Andreas Oehrlein (1601-1668) was a German Lutheran theologian and author who wrote extensively on religious topics.

In the 19th century, Johann Friedrich Oehrlein (1788-1859) was a German philosopher and educator who contributed to the development of educational theory. Ernst Oehrlein (1887-1943) was a German architect known for his residential and commercial buildings in Berlin during the early 20th century.

Additionally, the OEHRLEIN surname has been connected to various place names in Germany, such as the village of Oehrlein in the state of Bavaria, which may have influenced the name's origin or contributed to its spread.

While the OEHRLEIN surname is relatively uncommon globally, it has maintained a presence in Germany and other German-speaking regions throughout history, reflecting its deep-rooted origins and cultural significance.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oehrlein

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!