Starer
A surname possibly derived from the name of an occupation involving staring or intense observation.
According to the 2000 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 137 Americans carry the last name Starer. That puts it at #131,366 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 Starer 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.
Starer 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
#131,366
2000 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Starer in its 2000 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 131366th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Starer, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Starer
The surname Starer is believed to have originated in Central Europe, likely in the regions now known as Germany or Austria. The earliest use of this surname probably dates back to the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century. The name Starer is almost certainly derived from the Middle High German word "star," which means starling, a kind of bird. This suggests that the original bearers of the name could have been associated with these birds in some way, possibly as bird catchers, keepers, or perhaps in folklore.
Historical references to the surname Starer are sparse, partly due to the transformation of medieval languages and the limited documentation practices of those times. However, old records from Southern Germanic regions do contain similar spellings, such as Statzer or Stare, which could be variants of Starer or its predecessors. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name can be traced to a 14th-century tax list from Bavaria, marked under the name Hans Starer, who was a landowner in a modest village.
In the 1500s, records show a Klaus Starer in the city of Vienna, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, where he was cited as a member of a local guild, most likely linked to the birdkeeping or fowling trades. The Starers were particularly noted during this era because bird-keeping was an essential aspect of life for both practical purposes like hunting and symbolic uses in heraldry.
Moving forward, another notable individual with this surname is Ludwig Starer, born in 1620 and died in 1682, who served as a councilman in the city of Munich. His involvement in local governance marked the rising influence of families bearing this surname during the Renaissance era. This period saw many families named Starer or its variants integrate more profoundly into civic and commercial activities.
Another historical figure is Johann Starer, a cartographer in the late 1700s, known for his detailed maps of the Salzburg region. His works remain preserved in local archives, offering a valuable glimpse into early modern cartography practices and the geographical understanding of the time. The Starer name lived on in the scientific community, with Franziska Starer, an 18th-century botanist whose minor, yet significant, contributions to the study of Alpine flora were recorded in botanical journals of the era.
Into the modern era, perhaps the most well-documented Starer was Robert Starer (1924-2001), a renowned Austrian-American composer and pianist. His work in both classical and modern music earned him considerable recognition, consolidating the name Starer within the arts.
Thus, the surname Starer has a distinguished history deeply rooted in Central European culture, gradually branching into various fields over the centuries, from medieval trade and governance to scientific research and the arts. This rich etymology reflects a robust legacy carried by each individual who has borne the name.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Starer
Among Census respondents with the surname Starer, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%.
The bar chart below shows how Starer 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 Starer surname at the time of the 2000 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.3%
- Unknown or suppressed1.7%
FAQ
Starer surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Starer?
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the surname Starer. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,501,856 residents.
How common is Starer?
Starer ranks #131,366 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 119 people with the surname Starer. 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 Starer.
Has Starer become more or less common over time?
Starer 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 Starer?
Among Census respondents with the surname Starer, the largest self-reported group is White at 98.3%. 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 Starer in the 2000 Census, accounting for 98.3%.
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Starer appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2000 file are White (98.3%).
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Not necessarily. Starer 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 Starer mean?
A surname possibly derived from the name of an occupation involving staring or intense observation. 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 Starer (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 people have the last name Starer?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Starer, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.