2000
#135,837
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Wersching
A surname of German origin referring to a place name or location.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 136 Americans carry the last name Wersching. That puts it at #142,788 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,520,252 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wersching 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.
Bearers in the US
136
1 in 2,520,252
Census rank
#142,788
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
119
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 119 bearers of the surname Wersching in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 142788th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wersching, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wersching
The surname WERSCHING is believed to have originated in Germany, with roots dating back to the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the German word "Werschen," which refers to a type of woven fabric or textile material. This suggests that early bearers of the name may have been involved in the textile industry, either as weavers, merchants, or manufacturers.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the WERSCHING name can be found in the Kirchenbücher, or church records, of the city of Hannover in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 1587, a record shows the baptism of a child named Johann WERSCHING, son of Hans WERSCHING and his wife, Margarethe.
The WERSCHING surname also appears in various historical documents from other regions of Germany, such as Saxony and Bavaria. For instance, in the Stadtarchiv (city archives) of Leipzig, there is a record from 1632 that mentions a certain Christoph WERSCHING, a merchant who traded in textiles.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the WERSCHING name began spreading to other parts of Europe as people migrated and settled in new areas. One notable figure was Johann Friedrich WERSCHING (1718-1792), a German composer and organist who lived and worked in the city of Ansbach, in present-day Bavaria.
In the 19th century, the WERSCHING surname made its way across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the United States can be found in the 1850 census, which lists a family of German immigrants with the last name WERSCHING living in the state of Illinois.
Other notable individuals with the WERSCHING surname throughout history include:
1. Wilhelm WERSCHING (1842-1905), a German painter and artist from Dresden.
2. Heinrich WERSCHING (1876-1944), a German architect who designed several buildings in Berlin in the early 20th century.
3. Emilie WERSCHING (1888-1972), a German-American author and poet who wrote several works in both German and English.
4. Friedrich WERSCHING (1901-1987), a German military officer who served in World War II and later became a historian and author.
5. Otto WERSCHING (1912-1996), a German-American engineer and inventor who held numerous patents in fields such as electronics and telecommunications.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wersching
Among Census respondents with the surname Wersching, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%.
The bar chart below shows how Wersching 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 Wersching surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White100.0% · 119
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wersching
Wersching 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
#144,141
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
+1 bearers (+0.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 8,304 places
2020
#142,788
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 119
+4 bearers (+3.5%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 1,353 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #135,837 | 114 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #144,141 | 115 | 0.04 | +1 bearers (+0.9%) | Down 8,304 places |
| 2020 | #142,788 | 119 | 0.04 | +4 bearers (+3.5%) | Up 1,353 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 Wersching 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 | #144,141 | #142,788 | 0.9% |
| Count | 115 | 119 | 3.5% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -0.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wersching bearers went from 115 to 119 (+3.5% change). The surname moved up 1,353 positions in the national ranking, going from #144,141 to #142,788.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Wersching
FAQ
Wersching surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wersching?
Name Census estimates that about 136 living Americans carry the surname Wersching. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,520,252 residents.
How common is Wersching?
Wersching ranks #142,788 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 119 people with the surname Wersching. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (136), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Wersching.
Has Wersching become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wersching went from 115 recorded bearers to 119. That is an increase of 4 (+3.5%). In the national ranking it rose from #144,141 to #142,788.
What does the Census say about the background of Wersching?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wersching, the largest self-reported group is White at 100.0%. 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 Wersching in the 2020 Census, accounting for 100.0% (119 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wersching appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (100.0%). 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 Wersching (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 Wersching mean?
A surname of German origin referring to a place name or location. 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 Wersching (0.04 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 have the surname Wersching?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.