2000
#12,730
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,227
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.83
Rare Last name
Starner
Derived from German, likely referring to a person who lived by a starling bird nesting area.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,318 Americans carry the last name Starner. That puts it at #14,261 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.68 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 147,866 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Starner 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.
Bearers in the US
2.3K
1 in 147,866
Census rank
#14,261
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,021 bearers of the surname Starner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.68 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14261st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Starner, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (1.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Starner
The surname Starner is believed to have originated in Germany during the late medieval period, likely derived from the Old German word "starnon," which meant "to gaze" or "to stare." This suggests that the name may have been initially bestowed upon someone who had a particularly intense or piercing gaze.
Starner is thought to have its roots in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria and the surrounding areas. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in local parish records and tax rolls from the 15th and 16th centuries, where it appears with various spellings such as "Starnner," "Staerner," and "Stärner."
One of the earliest known bearers of the Starner name was Hans Starnner, a German blacksmith who lived in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in the late 15th century. His name is recorded in the town's archives, which document his work as a skilled craftsman and his involvement in the local guild.
In the 17th century, the name Starner appears in several historical documents related to the Thirty Years' War, a devastating conflict that ravaged much of Central Europe. Johann Starner, born in 1620, was a soldier in the Imperial Army who fought in several major battles during the war.
As the Starner family spread across Germany and into neighboring regions, the name began to appear in various locales and records. In the 18th century, a notable figure was Christoph Starner, a renowned clockmaker from the town of Augsburg, who was praised for his intricate and highly accurate timepieces.
Another prominent individual with the Starner surname was Maximilian Starner, a German philosopher and academic who lived in the late 19th century. Born in 1845 in Munich, he was a prominent figure in the field of metaphysics and authored several influential works on the nature of reality and consciousness.
It is worth noting that while the Starner name originated in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to emigration and migration patterns. However, the surname remains most prevalent in German-speaking regions and among those with German ancestry.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Starner
Among Census respondents with the surname Starner, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (1.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Starner bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 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 Starner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.4% · 1,908
- Two or more races2.8% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 35
- Black or African American0.4% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 6
Timeline
Historical Census data for Starner
Starner appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#12,261
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,537
+310 bearers (+13.9%)
Per 100,000 0.86
Rank movement Up 469 places
2020
#14,261
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,021
-516 bearers (-20.3%)
Per 100,000 0.68
Rank movement Down 2,000 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,730 | 2,227 | 0.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,261 | 2,537 | 0.86 | +310 bearers (+13.9%) | Up 469 places |
| 2020 | #14,261 | 2,021 | 0.68 | -516 bearers (-20.3%) | Down 2,000 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Starner surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #12,261 | #14,261 | -16.3% |
| Count | 2,537 | 2,021 | -20.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.86 | 0.68 | -21.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Starner bearers went from 2,537 to 2,021 (-20.3% change). The surname moved down 2,000 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,261 to #14,261.
FAQ
Starner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Starner?
Name Census estimates that about 2,318 living Americans carry the surname Starner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 147,866 residents.
How common is Starner?
Starner ranks #14,261 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.68 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,021 people with the surname Starner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,318), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.68 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.68 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Starner.
Has Starner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Starner went from 2,537 recorded bearers to 2,021. That is a decrease of 516 (-20.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,261 to #14,261.
What does the Census say about the background of Starner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Starner, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.8%) and Hispanic (1.7%). These figures come from the 2020 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 Starner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.4% (1,908 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Starner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.4%), Two or More Races (2.8%), Hispanic (1.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Starner (2000, 2010, 2020).
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 Starner mean?
Derived from German, likely referring to a person who lived by a starling bird nesting area. 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 2020 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 Starner (0.68 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 common is the surname Starner?
If you just want to know how many people have the surname Starner, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.