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

Rheingold, 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 Rheingold surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rheingold in America

Rheingold is the 107669th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rheingold surname appeared 165 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 Rheingold.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rheingold 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 Rheingold

The surname Rheingold is of German origin, originating in the region along the Rhine River during the Middle Ages. The name is derived from the German words "Rhein" meaning Rhine and "gold" meaning gold, likely referring to the golden color of the river or the wealth associated with the Rhine region.

Rheingold was a term used in Germanic mythology to refer to the treasure guarded by the Nibelungs and the subject of the famous Nibelungenlied epic poem from the 13th century. This ancient connection to Germanic legends and literature suggests the name has been around for centuries.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Rheingold can be found in the Reichskammergericht court records from 1495, where a Hans Rheingold is mentioned as a merchant from Cologne. This indicates the name was present in the Rhineland area during the late medieval period.

In the 16th century, the name appears in various church records and municipal documents across the Rhine region, with spellings such as Rheinegold, Reingold, and Reyngold. Notable individuals from this time include Johannes Rheingold (1520-1584), a prominent Lutheran theologian from Worms.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the surname Rheingold can be found in records from cities like Frankfurt, Mainz, and Bonn. Some notable bearers include the poet and playwright Johann Friedrich Rheingold (1652-1718) from Frankfurt and the composer and organist Georg Rheingold (1711-1781) from Bonn.

In the 19th century, the surname gained wider recognition with the rise of the writer and philosopher Richard Wagner. His influential opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, which includes the opera Das Rheingold, brought renewed attention to the mythological origins of the name.

Other notable individuals with the surname Rheingold include the German-American artist and illustrator Otto Rheingold (1857-1920), the German-American businessman and philanthropist Albert Rheingold (1876-1948), and the American writer and critic Walter Rheingold (1891-1961).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rheingold

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

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

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

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