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

Steinbeck, 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 Steinbeck surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Steinbeck in America

Steinbeck is the 20434th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Steinbeck surname appeared 1,300 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 Steinbeck.

We can also compare 2010 data for Steinbeck 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 Steinbeck

The surname STEINBECK originates from Germany, where it first appeared in the medieval era. It is derived from the Middle High German words "stein," meaning stone, and "bach," meaning brook or stream. Thus, the name likely referred to someone who lived near a stony brook or stream.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 14th century Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from the Margraviate of Brandenburg. In this codex, a "Henricus Steinbeck" is mentioned in relation to a land transaction in the year 1375.

The name also appears in the Württembergisches Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical records from the former Duchy of Württemberg. In this collection, a "Hans Steinbeck" is listed as a witness to a legal agreement in the town of Esslingen in 1489.

In the 16th century, the name can be found in the parish records of the city of Nuremberg, where a "Balthasar Steinbeck" was born in 1524. This Balthasar Steinbeck later became a prominent merchant and member of the city council.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Johannes Steinbeck, a German Lutheran theologian and reformer born in 1589 in the town of Saalfeld. He was a staunch supporter of the Protestant Reformation and published several influential theological works during his lifetime.

Another notable figure with the surname STEINBECK was Johann Adam Steinbeck, a German architect and builder who lived from 1708 to 1779. He was responsible for the construction of several notable buildings in the city of Mainz, including the Mainzer Neustadt and the Church of St. Ignatius.

The name STEINBECK is also associated with the American author John Ernst Steinbeck, who was born in 1902 in Salinas, California. While his family was of German descent, they had anglicized the spelling of their surname. John Steinbeck is best known for his novels such as "The Grapes of Wrath," "Of Mice and Men," and "East of Eden," for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Steinbeck

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

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

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

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