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

Roller, 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 Roller surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Roller in America

Roller is the 4492nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Roller surname appeared 7,894 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 Roller.

We can also compare 2010 data for Roller 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 Roller

The surname Roller is of German origin and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is an occupational name derived from the Old High German word "rol," meaning "to roll" or "to turn." The name likely referred to someone who worked as a roller of cloth or a maker of rollers used in various trades.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Roller can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from the 13th century. In this codex, a person named Conradus Roller is mentioned in a land transaction from the year 1256 in the region of Bavaria.

In the 14th century, the surname Roller appeared in various records across German-speaking regions, including the Nuremberg Chronicles, a famous illustrated world history book published in 1493. This suggests that the name was well-established by that time.

The name Roller can also be traced back to place names in Germany, such as Rollersdorf, a village in Saxony-Anhalt. It is possible that some individuals adopted the surname based on their association with these locations.

Notable individuals with the surname Roller throughout history include:

1. Johann Roller (1518-1584), a German composer and organist who served at the Nuremberg court.
2. Gottfried Roller (1599-1661), a German jurist and diplomat who represented the interests of the Holy Roman Empire in various negotiations.
3. Christian Roller (1677-1754), a German architect and builder known for his work on churches and palaces in Saxony.
4. Johann Roller (1805-1875), a German painter and illustrator whose works depicted scenes from German folklore and history.
5. Friedrich Roller (1824-1905), a German businessman and industrialist who established a successful textile manufacturing company in Silesia.

While the surname Roller has its roots in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of Europe and the world due to migration and cultural exchange. However, the name's origins can be traced back to the occupational and linguistic traditions of medieval Germany.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Roller

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

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

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

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