Fischer
A German masculine name derived from the word for "fisher".
Name Census estimates that about 2,092 living Americans carry the first name Fischer. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Fischer today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fischer births was 2015 (104 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fischer. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fischer is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 163,841 Americans
Peak year
2015
104 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,996
Tracked since 1993
Census
Fischer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,679 people with the first name Fischer, which placed it at #8,605 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,605
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,679 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fischer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fischer is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Hispanic (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Fischer 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 name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Fischer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.2% · 1,497
- Two or more races5.2% · 87
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 60
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 12
- Black or African American0.6% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Fischer
Out of the 2,112 babies given the name Fischer since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Fischer as a male name
- Ranked #1,996 in 2024
- 77 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (104 births)
Fischer as a female name
- Ranked #14,391 in 2018
- 6 female births in 2018
- Peak: 2016 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fischer leans strongly male. 1,627 people counted with this name were male (96.6%), compared with 58 female bearers (3.4%).
Popularity
Fischer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fischer from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 963 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Fischer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fischer by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Fischer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fischers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Michigan recorded the most babies named Fischer, while Iowa, Oregon, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fischer
The name Fischer is derived from the Middle High German word "vischer," which means "fisherman." This name has its origins in the medieval period, particularly in Germanic-speaking regions of Europe, where fishing was a common occupation.
During the Middle Ages, surnames were often derived from professions or trades, and the name Fischer likely originated as a descriptive name for someone who earned their living by catching fish. It is related to similar names such as Fisher in English and Pêcheur in French, all referring to the same occupation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fischer can be found in the German city of Augsburg, where a certain Cunrat der Vischer was mentioned in a document dated 1285. This provides evidence of the name's usage in the late 13th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Fischer. One of the most famous is the German composer Johann Christian Fischer, who lived from 1733 to 1800 and was known for his keyboard and chamber music compositions.
Another notable figure is the German philosopher and mathematician Carl Benjamin Fischer, who lived from 1841 to 1914 and made significant contributions to the fields of logic and mathematics.
In the realm of literature, the Austrian writer and playwright Fritz Fischer, born in 1889 and died in 1970, is remembered for his works exploring themes of social justice and criticism of the bourgeoisie.
The name Fischer has also been associated with scientific achievements. For instance, Emil Fischer, a German chemist who lived from 1852 to 1919, is renowned for his pioneering work in organic chemistry and the synthesis of various organic compounds, including sugars and purines.
Lastly, one cannot overlook the German field marshal Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst, born in 1755 and died in 1813, whose original surname was Fischer before being ennobled. He played a crucial role in the reform and modernization of the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars.
People
Fischer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fischer as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fischer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fischer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,092 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fischer going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 163,841 US residents.
Is Fischer a common name?
We classify Fischer as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,112 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fischer most popular?
The single biggest year for Fischer was 2015, when 104 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fischer is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fischer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,679 people with the name Fischer, or 0.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,605 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Fischer in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Fischer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fischer leans strongly male. 1,627 people counted with this name were male (96.6%), compared with 58 female bearers (3.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Fischer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fischer is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Hispanic (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Fischer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fischer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (1,497 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Fischer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fischer a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Fischer in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Fischer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fischer in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Fischer can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Fischer as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.