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

Summe, 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 Summe surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Summe in America

Summe is the 76275th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Summe surname appeared 252 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 Summe.

We can also compare 2010 data for Summe 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 Summe

The surname "SUMME" is believed to have originated in Germany during the Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the Old High German word "suma," which meant "summer" or "summertime." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a summer pasture or was born during the summer months.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from the region of Saxony. In a charter dated 1185, a certain "Conradus Summe" is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction.

In the 13th century, the name appears in various forms such as "Summe," "Sume," and "Zumme" in records from the cities of Cologne and Aachen. It is possible that these variations reflect regional differences in pronunciation and spelling.

The Summe name has been associated with several notable figures throughout history. In the 15th century, a merchant named Hans Summe is recorded as having traded goods between the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Lübeck. Around the same time, a cleric named Johannes Summe served as a canon at the Cathedral of Cologne.

During the Reformation era, a Lutheran theologian named Caspar Summe (1528-1589) gained prominence for his writings on the doctrine of predestination. He served as a professor at the University of Leipzig and was involved in debates with other Protestant scholars.

In the 18th century, a German composer named Johann Gottfried Summe (1717-1778) achieved some recognition for his church music and instrumental works. He held positions as an organist and Kapellmeister in various cities throughout Saxony and Thuringia.

Another notable bearer of the Summe name was Karl Friedrich Summe (1786-1859), a German jurist and legal scholar who served as a judge and professor of law at the University of Heidelberg. His writings on civil law and jurisprudence were widely influential in his time.

While the name "SUMME" is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of Germany's rich onomastic heritage, reflecting the linguistic and cultural traditions of the region where it originated.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Summe

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

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

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

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