Sensinger
A surname of German origin meaning "singer" or "songster".
According to the 2000 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 137 Americans carry the last name Sensinger. That puts it at #149,328 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,501,856 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sensinger surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Sensinger appeared in the 2000 Census surname file but was not included in the published 2020 file. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames with at least 100 recorded bearers, so this usually means the name fell below that threshold.
Bearers in the US
137
1 in 2,501,856
Census rank
#149,328
2000 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
101
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 101 bearers of the surname Sensinger in its 2000 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 149328th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sensinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sensinger
The surname Sensinger originates from Germany, with early roots tracing back to the medieval period. This surname is believed to have emerged primarily from the Bavarian region. The suffix -inger is a common Germanic addition indicating "one from" or "descendant of," suggesting the name may have originally been used to denote individuals from a specific locale or family.
Derived from older Germanic words, the surname Sensinger appears to be connected to the notion of a geographical or locational origin. The prefix Sens- could be linked to a particular area, village, or notable landmark within the region, though the exact etymology of Sens- remains somewhat ambiguous. Similar surnames from the region include names like Kissinger and Zinzinger, following a comparable pattern of formation.
Historical records from the late medieval period include mentions of individuals bearing the surname Sensinger. For example, Johannes Sensinger is recorded in a land charter from the early 1500s in Bavaria. This suggests the name was established by at least the early 16th century. Additionally, a Hans Sensinger appears in the municipal records of Munich around 1575, indicating that families with this surname were present and possibly even prominent in the region's urban centers.
Early instances of the surname can also be found in church records and tax rolls. Mathias Sensinger, born in 1642, is noted in the baptismal records of Nuremberg's St. Lorenz Church. Another significant historical figure is Georg Sensinger, who served as a guild master in the city of Augsburg during the late 17th century, a position that highlights the social standing and occupational significance of individuals with this surname.
The surname appears steadily in various genealogical documents, and by the 18th century, migration patterns saw it spread to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. Peter Sensinger, born in 1735, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1764, where the Sensinger name became integrated into the expanding American colonial society.
In Bavaria, the Sensinger surname appears on several historical registers, including military drafts and local censuses from the 18th and 19th centuries. Ludwig Sensinger, born in 1809, is documented as a merchant in the town of Ingolstadt, and his descendents continued to play roles in the town’s commercial activities throughout the 19th century.
Particularly noteworthy is the inclusion of Wilhelm Sensinger in the 1850 Bavarian Land Census, illustrating the persistence of the Sensinger lineage in regional administrative records. His extensive family ties indicate a broadening of the Sensinger name through marriage and expansion of kin networks across southern Germany.
In tracing the Sensinger surname through various epochs, it is evident that individuals and families bearing the name have participated in significant social, economic, and migratory movements, contributing to their communities in meaningful ways. The name remains a testament to the historical richness and geographical mobility associated with German surnames.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sensinger
Among Census respondents with the surname Sensinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Sensinger bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2000 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Sensinger surname at the time of the 2000 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.0%
- Unknown or suppressed2.0%
FAQ
Sensinger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sensinger?
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the surname Sensinger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,501,856 residents.
How common is Sensinger?
Sensinger ranks #149,328 in the 2000 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2000 Census file counted 101 people with the surname Sensinger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (137), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Sensinger.
Has Sensinger become more or less common over time?
Sensinger appears here with 2000 Census data. When additional surname-file years are available for this name, Name Census uses them to show longer-term movement in rank and bearer count.
What does the Census say about the background of Sensinger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sensinger, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.0%. These figures come from the 2000 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Sensinger in the 2000 Census, accounting for 98.0%.
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sensinger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2000 file are White (98.0%).
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Not necessarily. Sensinger appears here with 2000 Census data, while the latest surname file loaded on Name Census is 2020. When a surname drops below the Census publication threshold, older rows can still be kept for historical reference even if the name no longer appears in the newest file.
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Sensinger mean?
A surname of German origin meaning "singer" or "songster". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2000 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Sensinger (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Sensinger?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.