Find out how popular the last name Rothlisberger is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Rothlisberger.
A German surname meaning "red innkeeper" or "red tavern keeper".
Rothlisberger, 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 Rothlisberger surname is from the 2010 census data.
Rothlisberger is the 40432nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Rothlisberger surname appeared 541 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 Rothlisberger.
We can also compare 2010 data for Rothlisberger 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.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | 40432 | 40987 | -1.36% |
Count | 541 | 502 | 7.48% |
Proportion per 100k | 0.18 | 0.19 | -5.41% |
The surname Rothlisberger is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the Middle Ages in central Europe. It is a locational surname derived from a place name, likely a town or village where the earliest bearers of the name resided.
One possible origin of the name is the town of Rothis, located in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. The suffix "-berger" was commonly added to place names to denote someone from that particular location. Therefore, Rothlisberger could translate to "one from Rothis."
Another theory suggests that the name is a compound word combining the German elements "rot" (meaning red) and "lis" (a meadow or clearing). In this case, the name may have referred to a person who lived near a red meadow or clearing.
The earliest recorded instances of the Rothlisberger surname date back to the 14th century in various German and Swiss records. One notable mention is found in the Zürcher Steuerrödel (a tax register) from 1357, which lists a Hensli Rotlisberger as a resident of Zurich.
In the 15th century, a Johann Rothlisberger was a respected merchant and civic leader in the city of Bern, Switzerland. His descendants went on to hold positions of influence in the region for generations.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, several Rothlisbergers were prominent scholars and clergymen. Johannes Rothlisberger (1519-1588) was a Lutheran theologian and reformer who played a key role in the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland.
In the 18th century, a branch of the Rothlisberger family settled in the Alsace region of France. One notable member was Jean-Baptiste Rothlisberger (1725-1798), a French military officer who served in the Seven Years' War and the French Revolutionary Wars.
As the name spread across Europe, variations in spelling emerged, such as Rothlesberger, Rotlisberger, and Rothlisberg. However, the core elements of the name remained consistent, reflecting its origins in the German-speaking regions of central Europe.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Rothlisberger.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Rothlisberger was:
Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
---|---|---|
Non-Hispanic White Only | 93.35% | 505 |
Non-Hispanic Black Only | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | 0.92% | 5 |
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S) |
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | 1.48% | 8 |
Hispanic Origin | 3.70% | 20 |
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 Rothlisberger has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
White | 93.35% | 95.82% | -2.61% |
Black | (S)% | 0.00% | (S)% |
Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.92% | (S)% | (S)% |
American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
Two or More Races | 1.48% | 1.99% | -29.39% |
Hispanic | 3.70% | 1.39% | 90.77% |
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 Rothlisberger was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
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"Rothlisberger last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on May 11, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/rothlisberger-surname-popularity/.
"Rothlisberger last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/rothlisberger-surname-popularity/. Accessed 11 May, 2025
Rothlisberger last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/rothlisberger-surname-popularity/.
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