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

Spielberg, 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 Spielberg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Spielberg in America

Spielberg is the 53419th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Spielberg surname appeared 387 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 Spielberg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Spielberg 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 Spielberg

The surname Spielberg is of German origin, derived from the words "spiel" meaning "play" or "game," and "berg" meaning "hill" or "mountain." It is believed to have originated in the medieval period, possibly as early as the 12th or 13th century.

The name was likely given to individuals who lived near or owned land situated on a hill or mountain where games or sports were played. It may also have been a descriptive name for someone who engaged in or was associated with such activities.

While there are no known references to the name in historical documents like the Domesday Book, some of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in various German records and church registers from the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, a record from 1555 mentions a Johannes Spielberg in the town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and in 1624, a Hans Spielberg was documented in the village of Oberwiesenthal.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname was Johann Spielberg (1592-1662), a German composer and organist who served at the court of the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. Another early bearer of the name was Johann Christoph Spielberg (1685-1745), a German theologian and author from Strasbourg.

The Spielberg surname has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as the town of Spielberg in Lower Saxony and the municipality of Spielberg in Bavaria. These place names may have contributed to the spread and adoption of the surname in different regions.

Other notable individuals with the surname Spielberg throughout history include:

1. Friedrich Spielberg (1811-1872), a German writer and translator.
2. Carl Spielberg (1873-1943), a German-American businessman and philanthropist.
3. Arnold Spielberg (1917-2020), an American electrical engineer and father of filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
4. Steven Spielberg (born 1946), the renowned American filmmaker known for movies like Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Schindler's List.
5. Leah Spielberg Adler (1920-2017), Steven Spielberg's mother and a former concert pianist.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Spielberg

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

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

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

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