Tiger last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Tiger

A surname derived from the German word for a fighter or warrior, or from a nickname for a fierce or brave person.

Tiger, 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 Tiger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tiger in America

Tiger is the 12715th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tiger surname appeared 2,428 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Tiger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tiger 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 12715 12667 0.38%
Count 2,428 2,240 8.05%
Proportion per 100k 0.82 0.83 -1.21%

The history of the last name Tiger

The surname Tiger is believed to have originated in Germany or Scandinavian countries during the Middle Ages. It is likely derived from the Old Norse word "tigri," which means "tiger" and was used as a nickname for someone who was fierce or brave in battle.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Tiger can be found in the Frankish records of the 8th century, where a warrior named Thigir was mentioned. It is possible that this name was later anglicized to Tiger.

In the 11th century, a Flemish nobleman named Rodulfus Tiger was documented in the records of the Abbey of St. Bertin in Flanders. This suggests that the surname had spread to the Low Countries by that time.

During the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, a soldier named Willelmus Tiger was recorded in the Domesday Book, which was a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror.

Over the centuries, the surname Tiger has been associated with various places and individuals. One notable example is the village of Tigerfeld in Bavaria, Germany, which may have been named after someone with the surname Tiger.

Some famous individuals with the surname Tiger include:

  1. Johann Elias Tiger (1633-1703), a German composer and organist.
  2. Johann Friedrich Tiger (1670-1741), a German mathematician and astronomer.
  3. William Tiger (1762-1838), an English engraver and painter.
  4. August Tiger (1803-1870), a German botanist and naturalist.
  5. Hans Tiger (1890-1964), a Swiss architect and designer.

It is important to note that this surname has undergone various spelling variations over time, such as Tyger, Tygre, and Tigre, reflecting regional and linguistic differences.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tiger

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

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 Tiger was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 43.90% 1,066
Non-Hispanic Black Only 6.14% 149
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.66% 16
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 38.06% 924
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 7.04% 171
Hispanic Origin 4.20% 102

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 Tiger has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 43.90% 42.77% 2.61%
Black 6.14% 6.56% -6.61%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.66% 0.27% 83.87%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 38.06% 41.16% -7.83%
Two or More Races 7.04% 6.34% 10.46%
Hispanic 4.20% 2.90% 36.62%

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Tiger last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 12, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/tiger-surname-popularity/.

"Tiger last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/tiger-surname-popularity/. Accessed 12 October, 2024

Tiger last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/tiger-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.