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

Ringwald, 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 Ringwald surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ringwald in America

Ringwald is the 30509th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ringwald surname appeared 765 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 Ringwald.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ringwald 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 Ringwald

The surname Ringwald originates from Germany, where it first appeared in the 13th century. It is derived from the Middle High German words "rinc" meaning "ring" and "walt" meaning "forest" or "wood." This suggests that the name may have referred to a person who lived near a ring-shaped forest or a clearing in the woods.

The earliest recorded instance of the name Ringwald can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from the region of Saxony, dated around 1270. This document mentions a certain "Heinricus Ringwald" from the town of Halberstadt.

Another early reference to the name Ringwald is in the Heidelberg University matriculation records from 1456, where a student named "Johannes Ringwald" is listed as enrolling in that year.

In the 16th century, there was a notable theologian and reformer named Philipp Ringwald (1499-1557) who was a supporter of Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation. He served as a preacher in Saxony and was instrumental in introducing the Reformation to the region.

During the 17th century, the Ringwald name appeared in various records from the German states of Baden and Württemberg. In 1683, a man named Johann Ringwald was recorded as a landowner in the village of Grunbach, near Heidelberg.

Another notable bearer of the Ringwald name was the 19th-century German painter and lithographer, Johann Baptist Ringwald (1789-1857), who was known for his landscapes and genre scenes.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several Ringwalds emigrated from Germany to the United States, including the ancestors of the American actress, Molly Ringwald (born 1968), who rose to fame in the 1980s for her roles in popular films like "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club."

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ringwald

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

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

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

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