2000
#11,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,485
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.92
Rare Last name
Wininger
Derived from the German surname Weininger, referring to a person from Weining or Wenigen, or a wine grower or merchant.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,533 Americans carry the last name Wininger. That puts it at #13,240 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.74 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 135,316 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Wininger 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
2.5K
1 in 135,316
Census rank
#13,240
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,209 bearers of the surname Wininger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.74 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13240th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Wininger, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Wininger
The surname Wininger has its origins in the German language. It is believed to have originated in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, during the late 16th or early 17th century.
The name Wininger is thought to be derived from the German word "Winninger," which refers to a person from the town of Winningen, located in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany. This suggests that the name may have initially been a locational surname, given to individuals who hailed from or resided in Winningen.
Historical records indicate that the Wininger surname first appeared in church registers and tax records in the towns and villages of southern Germany during the 17th century. One of the earliest known instances of the name can be found in the baptismal records of St. Peter's Church in Freiburg im Breisgau, where a child named Johann Wininger was baptized in 1632.
In the 18th century, the Wininger surname began to spread beyond its original German borders. Johann Friedrich Wininger, born in 1721 in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, is recorded as having immigrated to the American colonies in the mid-1700s, settling in Pennsylvania.
Several notable individuals have borne the Wininger surname throughout history. Karl Theodor Wininger (1801-1853), a German historian and writer, authored numerous works on the history of Baden and the Palatinate regions. Another Wininger of note was Friedrich Wininger (1835-1912), a German philosopher and educator who taught at the University of Munich.
In the 19th century, the Wininger name appeared in various localities across Europe. Gottlieb Wininger (1826-1892), a Swiss-German theologian and writer, published several religious works during his lifetime. Meanwhile, Salomon Wininger (1841-1905), a Hungarian-born Jewish scholar and bibliographer, made significant contributions to the study of Jewish literature and history.
As the centuries passed, the Wininger surname continued to disperse, with families bearing this name settling in various parts of the world, including North America, South America, and Australia.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wininger
Among Census respondents with the surname Wininger, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Wininger 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 Wininger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.9% · 2,052
- Two or more races3.8% · 85
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 44
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 16
- Black or African American0.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 4
Timeline
Historical Census data for Wininger
Wininger 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
#12,043
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,590
+105 bearers (+4.2%)
Per 100,000 0.88
Rank movement Down 453 places
2020
#13,240
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,209
-381 bearers (-14.7%)
Per 100,000 0.74
Rank movement Down 1,197 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,590 | 2,485 | 0.92 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,043 | 2,590 | 0.88 | +105 bearers (+4.2%) | Down 453 places |
| 2020 | #13,240 | 2,209 | 0.74 | -381 bearers (-14.7%) | Down 1,197 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 Wininger 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 | #12,043 | #13,240 | -9.9% |
| Count | 2,590 | 2,209 | -14.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.88 | 0.74 | -16.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Wininger bearers went from 2,590 to 2,209 (-14.7% change). The surname moved down 1,197 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,043 to #13,240.
FAQ
Wininger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Wininger?
Name Census estimates that about 2,533 living Americans carry the surname Wininger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 135,316 residents.
How common is Wininger?
Wininger ranks #13,240 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.74 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 2,209 people with the surname Wininger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,533), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.74 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.74 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 Wininger.
Has Wininger become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Wininger went from 2,590 recorded bearers to 2,209. That is a decrease of 381 (-14.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,043 to #13,240.
What does the Census say about the background of Wininger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Wininger, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Wininger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.9% (2,052 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Wininger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.9%), Two or More Races (3.8%), Hispanic (2.0%). 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 Wininger (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 Wininger mean?
Derived from the German surname Weininger, referring to a person from Weining or Wenigen, or a wine grower or merchant. 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 Wininger (0.74 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 Wininger?
You can see how many people have the last name Wininger on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.