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

Pershing, 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 Pershing surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pershing in America

Pershing is the 22436th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pershing surname appeared 1,147 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 Pershing.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pershing 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 Pershing

The surname Pershing originates from Germany, likely emerging in the 16th or 17th century. It is believed to be derived from the German word "Perschin," which could have been a nickname or a place name. The name may also be related to the Old German word "berschen," meaning to thrash or beat.

In historical records, the earliest known reference to the Pershing name can be found in the town of Schönau im Schwarzwald in southwestern Germany, where a family with the name Perschin resided in the 17th century. The name was later anglicized to Pershing when some members of the family immigrated to the United States in the 18th century.

One notable figure with the Pershing surname was John Joseph Pershing (1860-1948), a highly decorated American army officer who led the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I. He was awarded the rank of General of the Armies, the highest rank ever held in the United States Army.

Another historical figure was Frederic Pershing (1888-1960), an American painter and educator who was a member of the National Academy of Design. He is known for his landscape and still life paintings, and his works can be found in various museums across the United States.

In the 19th century, Jacob Pershing (1818-1896) was a prominent farmer and politician from Ohio, serving as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio State Senate.

Additionally, John Pershing (1785-1858), a farmer and surveyor from Pennsylvania, was involved in the construction of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal in the early 19th century.

The surname Pershing can also be traced back to Johann Perschin, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s. His descendants later adopted the anglicized spelling of Pershing.

While the Pershing name has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to various parts of the world, with notable bearers of the surname found in the United States, Canada, and other countries with German immigrant communities.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pershing

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

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

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

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