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

Schmalbach, 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 Schmalbach surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Schmalbach in America

Schmalbach is the 108734th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Schmalbach surname appeared 163 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 Schmalbach.

We can also compare 2010 data for Schmalbach 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 Schmalbach

The surname Schmalbach is of German origin and dates back to the medieval period in central Europe. It is believed to have originated in the regions that now make up modern-day Germany and Austria, possibly in the areas around the Rhine River and the Black Forest.

The name Schmalbach is derived from two Old German words: "schmal" meaning "narrow" or "slim", and "bach" meaning "stream" or "brook". Together, these words suggest that the name may have been associated with a slim or narrow stream or creek, possibly referring to a geographic location where the earliest bearers of the name lived or worked.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Schmalbach can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the 13th century. In this record, a person named "Conradus de Smalbach" is mentioned, indicating the presence of the name in that region during that time period.

In the 15th century, the name appears in the records of the city of Nuremberg, where a merchant named Hans Schmalbach is mentioned as having traded goods with other European cities. This suggests that the name had spread beyond its original geographic region and was associated with the emerging merchant class of that era.

One notable bearer of the Schmalbach name was Johann Schmalbach, a German theologian and philosopher who lived from 1524 to 1592. He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and authored several works on theology and philosophy.

Another individual of historical significance was Friedrich Schmalbach, a German military officer who served in the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars. He was born in 1781 and became a respected strategist and tactician, participating in several major battles against the French forces.

In the 19th century, the Schmalbach name appears in connection with the German emigration to the United States. One example is Johann Schmalbach, who was born in 1822 in Bavaria and later immigrated to Ohio, where he worked as a farmer and was involved in local politics.

The name Schmalbach has also been associated with various geographic locations throughout history. For instance, there is a town called Schmalnau in the German state of Hesse, which may have been derived from a similar linguistic root as the surname.

Throughout its long history, the surname Schmalbach has been spelled in various ways, including Schmallbach, Schmalpach, and Schmallepach, reflecting the regional variations and evolution of the German language over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Schmalbach

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

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!