Sasser last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Sasser

An occupational surname for a person who lived near or worked with a sluice or floodgate.

Sasser, 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 Sasser surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sasser in America

Sasser is the 4845th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sasser surname appeared 7,272 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Sasser.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sasser 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 4845 4613 4.91%
Count 7,272 7,029 3.40%
Proportion per 100k 2.47 2.61 -5.51%

The history of the last name Sasser

The surname Sasser is of Germanic origin, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have originated in the regions of present-day Germany and Switzerland, where it was initially spelled as "Sascher" or "Sässer".

The name Sasser is thought to be derived from the Old High German word "sasjo", which means "one who dwells". This suggests that the earliest bearers of this surname were likely inhabitants of a particular settlement or region.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sasser can be found in the Codex Traditionum Corbeiensium, a 9th-century manuscript from the Benedictine abbey of Corvey in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The document mentions a person named "Sasso" who lived in the region during that time.

In the 11th century, the name appeared in the form "Sazzer" in the Hirsauer Codex, a collection of documents from the Benedictine monastery of Hirsau in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. This suggests that the name had spread to different parts of the German-speaking regions by that time.

During the Middle Ages, the name Sasser was also associated with several places in Germany, such as the village of Sasbach in Baden-Württemberg and the town of Sassnitz on the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. These place names likely influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname over time.

Notable individuals with the surname Sasser throughout history include:

  1. Johann Sasser (c. 1480-1556), a German Renaissance mathematician and astronomer from Nuremberg.
  2. Hans Sasser (1543-1612), a Swiss painter and engraver from Basel.
  3. Christoph Sasser (1570-1630), a German composer and organist from Nuremberg.
  4. Johann Jakob Sasser (1716-1788), a Swiss physician and botanist from Zurich.
  5. Karl Sasser (1878-1945), a German architect and urban planner from Berlin.

While the surname Sasser is not as common today as it once was in its regions of origin, it continues to be a part of the rich tapestry of German and Swiss family names, reflecting the diverse cultural heritage of these countries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sasser

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

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 Sasser was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 87.39% 6,355
Non-Hispanic Black Only 7.96% 579
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.43% 31
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.48% 35
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.62% 118
Hispanic Origin 2.12% 154

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 Sasser has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 87.39% 89.42% -2.30%
Black 7.96% 7.43% 6.89%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.43% 0.31% 32.43%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.48% 0.60% -22.22%
Two or More Races 1.62% 0.92% 55.12%
Hispanic 2.12% 1.32% 46.51%

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

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

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Sasser last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 15, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/sasser-surname-popularity/.

"Sasser last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/sasser-surname-popularity/. Accessed 15 October, 2024

Sasser last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/sasser-surname-popularity/.

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