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

Willer, 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 Willer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Willer in America

Willer is the 13133rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Willer surname appeared 2,331 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 Willer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Willer 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 Willer

The surname Willer is believed to have originated in Germany, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the German occupational surname "Wollner," which referred to a wool worker or wool merchant. This is supported by the presence of similar spellings such as "Wullner" and "Wollner" in historical records.

In the late 16th century, the name Willer appeared in the town records of Augsburg, a prominent city in Bavaria, Germany. These early mentions suggest that the name may have its roots in southern Germany, where the wool trade was particularly significant during that time period.

The earliest recorded example of the surname Willer can be found in the baptismal records of St. Michael's Church in Augsburg, where a child named Hans Willer was baptized in 1587. This entry provides one of the earliest documented instances of the name in its modern spelling.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Willer continued to appear in various German records, including church registers and municipal documents. One notable individual bearing this surname was Johann Georg Willer, a prominent merchant and landowner who lived in the town of Ulm in the late 17th century.

As the wool trade flourished in Germany during the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, the surname Willer likely gained recognition as a marker of this profession. It is possible that the name was also associated with certain locations or villages where wool production was a dominant industry.

Over time, the Willer surname spread beyond Germany, with individuals bearing this name emigrating to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One such individual was Peter Willer, who was born in Bavaria in 1721 and later settled in Pennsylvania, USA, in the mid-18th century.

Other notable individuals with the surname Willer include Friedrich Willer, a German philosopher and writer who lived in the early 19th century, and Wilhelm Willer, a prominent German architect known for his work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Willer

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

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

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

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