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

Trier, 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 Trier surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Trier in America

Trier is the 37646th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Trier surname appeared 591 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 Trier.

We can also compare 2010 data for Trier 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 Trier

The surname Trier has its origins in the German city of Trier, one of the oldest cities in Germany dating back to the Roman Empire. It is believed that the name was originally derived from the Latin word "Treveris" or "Treveri," which referred to the Celtic tribe that inhabited the region around present-day Trier during the Roman era.

The name Trier first appeared in historical records as early as the 9th century, when it was recorded in various medieval documents and charters. One notable early reference can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval documents from the Palatinate region, which mentions a person named "Trevero" in the year 833 CE.

During the Middle Ages, the city of Trier was an important center of religious and political power in the Holy Roman Empire. As a result, the surname Trier became associated with individuals who hailed from or had connections to this influential city. Some notable historical figures bearing the surname Trier include Johannes Trier (c. 1465-1532), a German humanist and scholar, and Matthias Trier (1573-1635), a German Catholic priest and theologian.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the spelling of the name varied, with forms such as "Trier," "Tryer," and "Triere" appearing in various records and documents. One notable example is the Lutheran theologian Johann Philipp Trier (1609-1675), who was born in the city of Trier and went on to become a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation.

As the surname spread beyond the city of Trier, it also became associated with certain place names and regions. For instance, the village of Trierweiler in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, derives its name from the combination of "Trier" and the German word "weiler" (meaning "hamlet" or "small village"). Another example is the town of Trières in northeastern France, which was once part of the historical region of Trier.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Trier, including:

1. Friedrich Trier (1855-1919), a German philologist and scholar of Germanic languages.
2. Jost Trier (1894-1970), a German linguist and scholar of etymology and semantics.
3. Walter Trier (1890-1951), a German-American artist and set designer.
4. Christian Trier (1695-1770), a Danish-Norwegian theologian and historian.
5. Hans Trier (1899-1976), a Danish linguist and philologist, known for his work on the Scandinavian languages.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Trier

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Trier, 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!