2000
#91,404
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 187
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.07
Very Rare Last name
Doniger
A surname derived from a Germanic personal name meaning "loud" or "noisy".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 181 Americans carry the last name Doniger. That puts it at #116,774 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.05 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,893,670 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Doniger 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
181
1 in 1,893,670
Census rank
#116,774
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
158
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 158 bearers of the surname Doniger in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.05 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 116774th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Doniger, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Doniger
The surname DONIGER is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the town of Donaueschingen in the Black Forest region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name is derived from the German words "Donau" meaning "Danube" and "Eschingen," an old place name.
In its earliest known form, the name was spelled as "Donaueschinger," reflecting its connection to the town's name. Over time, this evolved into various spellings like "Doniger," "Donegar," and "Donegger" as families migrated and settled in different regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the church records of Donaueschingen, where a certain Hans Donaueschinger was mentioned in 1586. Another notable early reference is in the Codex Diplomaticus Alemanniae, a collection of historical documents from the region, which includes a mention of a Johann Donaueschinger in 1612.
In the 17th century, the name appears in the records of the town of Villingen, located near Donaueschingen, where a family with the surname DONIGER is documented as having lived. This suggests that some members of the family had already adopted the shortened spelling by that time.
One of the earliest known DONIGER individuals was Johann Michael DONIGER, born in 1692 in Villingen. He was a prominent local merchant and landowner, and his descendants carried on the family name in the region.
Another notable figure from history was Friedrich Wilhelm DONIGER (1777-1838), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits.
In the 19th century, the surname spread more widely across Germany and into neighboring countries as families migrated. One example is Albert DONIGER (1858-1921), an Austrian painter and illustrator known for his landscapes and portraiture.
The name also found its way to the United States, with one of the earliest recorded instances being that of Johann DONIGER (1822-1904), who immigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s and worked as a farmer.
Another prominent individual with the DONIGER surname was Wendy DONIGER (1941-present), an American Indologist and scholar of Hinduism, who has authored numerous books and academic works on the subject.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Doniger
Among Census respondents with the surname Doniger, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Doniger 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 Doniger surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.8% · 145
- Two or more races3.8% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Doniger
Doniger 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
#102,197
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 176
-11 bearers (-5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.06
Rank movement Down 10,793 places
2020
#116,774
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 158
-18 bearers (-10.2%)
Per 100,000 0.05
Rank movement Down 14,577 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #91,404 | 187 | 0.07 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #102,197 | 176 | 0.06 | -11 bearers (-5.9%) | Down 10,793 places |
| 2020 | #116,774 | 158 | 0.05 | -18 bearers (-10.2%) | Down 14,577 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 Doniger 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 | #102,197 | #116,774 | -14.3% |
| Count | 176 | 158 | -10.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.06 | 0.05 | -11.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Doniger bearers went from 176 to 158 (-10.2% change). The surname moved down 14,577 positions in the national ranking, going from #102,197 to #116,774.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Doniger
FAQ
Doniger surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Doniger?
Name Census estimates that about 181 living Americans carry the surname Doniger. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,893,670 residents.
How common is Doniger?
Doniger ranks #116,774 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.05 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 158 people with the surname Doniger. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (181), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.05 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.05 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 Doniger.
Has Doniger become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Doniger went from 176 recorded bearers to 158. That is a decrease of 18 (-10.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #102,197 to #116,774.
What does the Census say about the background of Doniger?
Among Census respondents with the surname Doniger, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Doniger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (145 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Doniger appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.8%), Two or More Races (3.8%), Hispanic (2.5%). 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 Doniger (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 Doniger mean?
A surname derived from a Germanic personal name meaning "loud" or "noisy". 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 Doniger (0.05 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 Doniger?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.