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

Schreck, 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 Schreck surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Schreck in America

Schreck is the 8030th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Schreck surname appeared 4,122 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Schreck.

We can also compare 2010 data for Schreck 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 Schreck

The surname Schreck has its origins in Germany, emerging during the Middle Ages around the 12th century. It is derived from the Middle High German word "schrec," which means "fright" or "terror." This indicates that the name may have been given as a descriptive nickname to someone with a particularly intimidating or fierce demeanor.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Schreck appears in the Reichsteuerlisten (Imperial Tax Rolls) of 1497, where a certain Claus Schreck is mentioned as a resident of Silesia, a region that now spans parts of modern-day Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. The name is also found in various other historical documents from the 15th and 16th centuries in areas such as Bavaria and Saxony.

In the 17th century, the Schreck name gained some prominence with the birth of Nicolaus Schreck (1629-1700), a German Jesuit missionary and explorer who traveled to South America and is known for his detailed accounts of the indigenous cultures he encountered. Another notable bearer of the name was Johann Franz Schreck (1755-1833), a German composer and organist who served as the Kapellmeister (music director) at the court of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.

The 19th century saw the rise of two prominent figures with the Schreck surname. The first was Gustav Schreck (1849-1918), a German-American entrepreneur who founded the Schreck Distilling Company in Chicago, which became one of the largest producers of whiskey in the United States. The second was Anton Schreck (1860-1934), an Austrian-born actor and stage director who was a leading figure in the Viennese theatre scene and served as the director of the Burgtheater, one of the most prestigious German-language theatres in the world.

Another noteworthy individual with the Schreck surname was Max Schreck (1879-1936), a German actor best known for his legendary portrayal of Count Orlok in the 1922 silent horror film "Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens" (Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror), which is considered a pioneering work in the genre of Gothic horror cinema.

In addition to these individuals, the Schreck name has also been associated with various place names throughout Germany and Austria, such as Schreckbach (a river in Bavaria) and Schreckenstein (a ruined castle near the town of Annweiler am Trifels in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Schreck

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

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

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

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