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

Wanderer, 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 Wanderer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wanderer in America

Wanderer is the 85357th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wanderer surname appeared 219 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 Wanderer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wanderer 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 Wanderer

The surname "WANDERER" is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "wandern," which means "to wander" or "to travel." This name likely originated during the medieval period, possibly as an occupational surname for someone who traveled frequently or worked as a wandering merchant or itinerant laborer.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname "WANDERER" can be found in the town records of Augsburg, Germany, dated around the 14th century. The name was also documented in various regional registers and tax rolls throughout southern Germany during the 15th and 16th centuries.

While the surname "WANDERER" does not appear to have any direct connections to place names or specific geographic locations, it is worth noting that the root word "wandern" is still used in modern German to describe the act of hiking or wandering through nature.

One notable figure with the surname "WANDERER" was Johann Wanderer (1581-1638), a German theologian and rector of the University of Marburg. He was widely known for his contributions to Protestant theology and his writings on the Book of Revelation.

Another individual with this surname was Friedrich Wanderer (1725-1798), a German composer and organist who served as the court Kapellmeister in Hesse-Darmstadt. His compositions, particularly his church cantatas and organ works, were highly regarded during his lifetime.

In the 19th century, Carl Wanderer (1808-1887) was a German entrepreneur and industrialist who founded the Wanderer Cycle Company in Chemnitz, Saxony. The company, which initially produced bicycles and later expanded into motorcycle and automobile manufacturing, played a significant role in the early development of the German automotive industry.

A more recent historical figure with the surname "WANDERER" was Hans Wanderer (1888-1966), a German artist and painter known for his landscape paintings and woodcut prints, many of which depicted scenes from his native Bavaria.

Finally, Gertrud Wanderer (1905-1987) was a German-American physicist and academic who made notable contributions to the field of nuclear physics. She worked at various research institutions in both Germany and the United States, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wanderer

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

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

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

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