2000
#9,774
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,053
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.13
Rare Last name
Wegener
A German occupational surname referring to a wagon maker or cart driver.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,393 Americans carry the last name Wegener. That puts it at #10,349 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.99 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 101,018 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wegener surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Wegener with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.4K
1 in 101,018
Census rank
#10,349
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
3.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,959 bearers of the surname Wegener in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.99 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10349th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wegener, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wegener
The surname WEGENER has its origins in Germany, dating back to the late medieval period in the 13th and 14th centuries. It is believed to be derived from the old German word "wegen," which translates to "road" or "path." This suggests that the name may have initially been given to someone who lived near a road or pathway, or perhaps worked as a road builder or guide.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the WEGENER surname can be found in the medieval German town of Augsburg, where a man named Henricus Wegener was mentioned in a document from 1312. Another early example comes from the city of Lübeck, where a merchant named Johannes Wegener was recorded in the city's records in 1428.
During the Renaissance period, the name WEGENER began to spread across various regions of Germany. In 1521, a man named Hans Wegener was listed as a resident of the town of Erfurt in Thuringia. A few decades later, in 1567, a Lutheran pastor named Martin Wegener was born in the city of Magdeburg.
As the centuries progressed, the WEGENER surname continued to be associated with notable individuals. In the 18th century, Johann Gottfried Wegener (1703-1770) was a German philosopher and theologian who wrote extensively on the subjects of metaphysics and ethics. A century later, in 1880, Alfred Wegener was born in Berlin. He would go on to become a pioneering German meteorologist and geophysicist, best known for his theory of continental drift.
Other notable individuals with the WEGENER surname include Georg Wegener (1613-1690), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of logarithms, and Willy Wegener (1895-1981), a German actor and film director who appeared in several notable films during the Weimar Republic era.
Despite its German origins, the WEGENER surname has also been found in other parts of Europe and beyond, likely due to migration patterns throughout history. However, its roots can be traced back to the medieval German regions, where it first emerged as a descriptive name for those living near roads or paths.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wegener
Among Census respondents with the surname Wegener, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Wegener bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Wegener surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 2,725
- Two or more races3.1% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 87
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 35
- Black or African American0.4% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wegener
Wegener appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#10,326
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,120
+67 bearers (+2.2%)
Per 100,000 1.06
Rank movement Down 552 places
2020
#10,349
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,959
-161 bearers (-5.2%)
Per 100,000 0.99
Rank movement Down 23 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #9,774 | 3,053 | 1.13 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,326 | 3,120 | 1.06 | +67 bearers (+2.2%) | Down 552 places |
| 2020 | #10,349 | 2,959 | 0.99 | -161 bearers (-5.2%) | Down 23 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Wegener surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #10,326 | #10,349 | -0.2% |
| Count | 3,120 | 2,959 | -5.2% |
| Per 100K | 1.06 | 0.99 | -6.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wegener bearers went from 3,120 to 2,959 (-5.2% change). The surname moved down 23 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,326 to #10,349.
FAQ
Wegener surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wegener?
Name Census estimates that about 3,393 living Americans carry the surname Wegener. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 101,018 residents.
How common is Wegener?
Wegener ranks #10,349 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.99 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,959 people with the surname Wegener. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,393), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.99 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.99 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Wegener.
Has Wegener become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wegener went from 3,120 recorded bearers to 2,959. That is a decrease of 161 (-5.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #10,326 to #10,349.
What does the Census say about the background of Wegener?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wegener, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Wegener in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (2,725 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wegener appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.1%), Two or More Races (3.1%), Hispanic (2.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Wegener (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Wegener mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a wagon maker or cart driver. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Wegener (0.99 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Wegener?
Find out how many people have the surname Wegener on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.