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

Prax, 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 Prax surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Prax in America

Prax is the 112568th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Prax surname appeared 156 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 Prax.

We can also compare 2010 data for Prax 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 Prax

The surname Prax originated in Germany, with its earliest roots dating back to the 12th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old High German word "brac," meaning "to break or shatter." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as a descriptive nickname to someone who worked as a breaker of stones or perhaps had a reputation for being a forceful individual.

The name Prax can be traced back to various regions of present-day Germany, particularly in the areas around the Rhine River and the state of Bavaria. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Codex Traditionum Lunaelacensium, a medieval cartulary from the Benedictine monastery of Lüneburg, dated around 1200.

In the 14th century, a variant spelling of the name, "Praxe," can be found in the Urbarium Episcopatus Spirensis, a rent-roll of the Bishopric of Speyer. This document mentions a certain "Johannes Praxe" as a tenant farmer in the village of Dudenhofen.

The Prax surname gained further prominence in the 15th century with the rise of a prominent family of scholars and intellectuals. Johannes Prax (1429-1501), a renowned humanist and professor at the University of Leipzig, was one of the most notable figures bearing this name during this period.

Another significant individual was Katharina Prax (1492-1563), a German Renaissance poet and writer from Nuremberg. Her collection of poems, "Geistliche Lieder und Betrachtungen," published in 1547, was highly acclaimed in her time.

In the 16th century, the name Prax appeared in various records across different regions of Germany. For instance, the Matrikel der Universität Heidelberg, a register of students at the University of Heidelberg, mentions a "Petrus Prax" from Worms, who enrolled in 1562.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, several Prax families were recorded in various German cities and towns, such as Frankfurt, Cologne, and Munich. One noteworthy individual from this era was Johann Georg Prax (1676-1748), a celebrated composer and organist from Bavaria.

As the name spread across Europe, it also found its way into other countries, often spelled slightly differently to adapt to local languages and dialects. For example, in the Netherlands, the name appeared as "Praks," while in France, it was sometimes rendered as "Pras."

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Prax

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

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

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

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