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

Zeilinger, 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 Zeilinger surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Zeilinger in America

Zeilinger is the 55255th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Zeilinger surname appeared 372 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 Zeilinger.

We can also compare 2010 data for Zeilinger 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 Zeilinger

The surname Zeilinger is of German origin, deriving from the Middle High German word "zeile," which means "row" or "line." The suffix "-inger" is a common German toponymic suffix that indicates a person's place of origin. Therefore, the name Zeilinger can be interpreted as "one who lives by the row" or "one from the row."

The name likely originated in the southern regions of Germany, particularly in areas such as Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. It is in these areas that the surname has been most commonly recorded. Its formation can be dated back to the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century, when surnames began to be adopted more widely across Europe for tax and identification purposes.

Historical records of the surname Zeilinger are sporadic, but some of the earliest references appear in church registers and land charters. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname was Hans Zeilinger, who appeared in Bavarian records around 1436. Church records from the 16th century frequently document Zeilingers as landowners and rural inhabitants in the area.

A noteworthy individual bearing the surname was Michael Zeilinger, born in 1540 in Munich, who was a noted craftsman and guild master. Another prominent figure was Johann Zeilinger, an academic who was born in 1680 and contributed to early scientific literature in Ingolstadt. The surname's use in religious contexts is also notable, with Father Andreas Zeilinger (born 1717) serving as an abbot in a prominent Bavarian monastery.

The surname also appears in military records. Franz Zeilinger, born in 1765, served as an officer in the Napoleonic Wars, distinguishing himself in several campaigns. Additionally, Mathias Zeilinger, who lived from 1820 to 1888, was a political figure in the region of Lower Bavaria and played a significant role in local governance.

Another famous bearer of the surname was the Austrian physicist Anton Zeilinger, born in 1945, who made significant contributions to the field of quantum mechanics. His work has been internationally recognized, and he even received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2022 for his pioneering experiments in quantum entanglement.

The Zeilinger surname has seen various spellings over time, including Zeilingher and Zeylinger, reflecting regional dialects and orthographic standards. Despite these variations, the name has maintained its association with the geographic and social history of southern Germany, remaining a link between modern bearers of the name and their medieval ancestors.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Zeilinger

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

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

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

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