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

Rüdiger, 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 Rüdiger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rüdiger in America

Rüdiger is the 46404th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rüdiger surname appeared 459 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 Rüdiger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rüdiger 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 Rüdiger

The surname RUDIGER is of German origin, derived from the Old German personal name Ruodiger, which is a compound of the elements "hruod" meaning "fame" and "ger" meaning "spear". This name can be traced back to the early medieval period in the regions of present-day Germany.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name RUDIGER can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a famous German epic poem from around the year 1200. In this work, Rüdiger von Bechelaren is a prominent character, a nobleman and ally of the Burgundian king.

During the Middle Ages, the name RUDIGER was particularly common in the regions of Bavaria and Franconia. Historic records from the 13th and 14th centuries mention individuals such as Rudiger von Staufen (c. 1220-1292), a German nobleman and statesman, and Rudiger von Manesse (c. 1240-1304), a renowned poet and codifier of the Manesse Codex, a valuable collection of Middle High German poetry.

In the 15th century, a notable figure was Rudiger von Plauen (c. 1425-1490), a German knight and military commander who served under Emperor Frederick III. He played a significant role in the Habsburg-Burgundian Wars.

Moving into the 16th century, Rudiger von Langen (c. 1490-1555) was a German humanist scholar and diplomat who served as a counselor to the Prince-Electors of Saxony.

Another individual of historical significance was Rudiger von Starhemberg (1638-1701), an Austrian field marshal who distinguished himself in the Great Turkish War and the War of the Spanish Succession.

Throughout its history, the surname RUDIGER has also been associated with various place names and older spellings, such as Rudgersdorf, Rudgershagen, and Rudigersdorf, reflecting the geographic spread of the name across German-speaking regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rüdiger

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

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

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

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