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

Rohrer, 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 Rohrer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rohrer in America

Rohrer is the 4580th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rohrer surname appeared 7,750 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Rohrer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rohrer 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 Rohrer

The surname Rohrer is of German origin, and its earliest recorded use can be traced back to the 14th century in the regions of Bavaria and Switzerland. The name is derived from the German word "Rohr," which means "reed" or "cane," suggesting that the original bearers of this name may have lived near a reed-covered area or worked with reeds in some capacity.

The first known record of the name Rohrer appears in the 1389 tax rolls of the city of Augsburg, Bavaria, where a certain Hans Rohrer is listed as a resident. In the 15th century, the name can be found in various Swiss records, including the 1459 census of the town of Bern, which lists a family by the name of Rorer.

One of the earliest and most notable individuals bearing the Rohrer name was Johann Rohrer, a Swiss Protestant reformer who lived from 1487 to 1551. He played a significant role in the Reformation movement in Switzerland and was a close associate of Ulrich Zwingli.

Another notable bearer of the Rohrer name was Johann Philipp Rohrer (1701-1775), a German composer and organist who served as the Kapellmeister (music director) at the court of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg. His compositions, which included masses, oratorios, and instrumental works, were highly regarded during his time.

In the 19th century, a prominent figure with the Rohrer surname was Friedrich Rohrer (1819-1895), a Swiss politician and lawyer who served as the President of the Swiss Federal Council (the head of government) in 1870 and 1871.

The name Rohrer has also been associated with several place names in Germany and Switzerland. For example, the village of Rohr in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, is believed to have derived its name from the German word "Rohr," suggesting a connection to the surname's origins.

Other notable individuals with the Rohrer surname include Heinrich Rohrer (1933-2013), a Swiss physicist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for his co-discovery of the scanning tunneling microscope, and Heinrich Rohrer (1861-1936), a Swiss architect who designed several notable buildings in Zurich and other parts of Switzerland.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rohrer

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

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

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

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