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

Ratner, 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 Ratner surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ratner in America

Ratner is the 13440th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ratner surname appeared 2,266 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Ratner.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ratner 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 Ratner

The surname Ratner is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "ratgeben," which means "to advise" or "to counsel." The name first appeared in the 13th century in the regions of Saxony and Bavaria, where it was likely an occupational name for a town advisor or counselor.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, where a "Johannes Ratner" is mentioned in a document dated 1297. This suggests that the name had already been established in the region by that time.

In the 14th century, variations of the name, such as "Ratgeber" and "Rathenau," began to appear in various records across Germany. These variations further reinforce the connection to the Middle High German word "ratgeben."

During the 16th century, the name spread to other parts of Europe, including the Netherlands and England, as a result of migration and trade. One notable bearer of the name was Willem Ratner, a Dutch merchant born in 1542, who established a successful trading company in Amsterdam.

In the 17th century, the surname Ratner is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This indicates that the name had already made its way to England by that time.

Other notable bearers of the surname Ratner throughout history include:

1. Johann Georg Ratner (1654-1720), a German composer and organist.
2. Gottfried Ratner (1692-1762), a German theologian and philosopher.
3. Erich Ratner (1808-1879), a German politician and lawyer.
4. Samuel Ratner (1853-1926), a Polish-born American industrialist and philanthropist.
5. Grigori Ratner (1885-1960), a Russian-born American composer and music educator.

The surname Ratner has also been associated with various place names, such as Ratnersdorf in Saxony, Germany, and Ratnersgrun in the Czech Republic, both of which likely derived from individuals bearing the name who settled in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ratner

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

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

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

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