2000
#5,606
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,677
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.10
Rare Last name
Eggert
A German occupational surname referring to a farmhand or tender of cattle and pigs.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,871 Americans carry the last name Eggert. That puts it at #6,387 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.71 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 58,381 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Eggert 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
5.9K
1 in 58,381
Census rank
#6,387
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.1K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,120 bearers of the surname Eggert in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.71 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6387th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Eggert, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Eggert
The surname EGGERT is of German origin, derived from the personal name Eghart, which was a combination of the Germanic elements "egg" meaning "sword" and "hart" meaning "brave" or "hardy". It originally referred to someone who was a skilled or brave swordsman.
The earliest known record of the surname EGGERT dates back to the 13th century in the regions of Bavaria and Franconia in southern Germany. In medieval records, the name was often spelled Eghart, Echart, or Egghart, reflecting the variations in spelling and pronunciation at the time.
One of the earliest documented instances of the surname EGGERT can be found in the Bavarian town of Landshut, where a nobleman named Egghart von Landshut was recorded in a charter from 1256. Another early record comes from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Franconia, where a citizen named Echart der Schmid (Echart the Blacksmith) was mentioned in a document from 1289.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname EGGERT began to spread beyond its original regions in southern Germany. In 1542, a man named Hans Eggert was recorded as a resident of the city of Nuremberg. In the 1600s, the name appeared in various records from the northern German states, such as Prussia and Saxony.
One of the earliest known bearers of the surname EGGERT was a 16th-century Protestant theologian and reformer named Johann Eggert (c. 1510-1580), who was active in the city of Wittenberg and was a close associate of Martin Luther. Another notable figure was the 17th-century German composer and organist Christian Eggert (c. 1610-1675), who served as the court composer in the city of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
In the 18th century, the surname EGGERT gained prominence with the German explorer and naturalist Jacob Eggert (1736-1813), who participated in several expeditions to Russia and Siberia and made significant contributions to the study of botany and zoology. Another prominent bearer of the name was the 19th-century German writer and dramatist Ferdinand Eggert (1801-1876), who wrote several plays and novels depicting life in rural Germany.
As the surname EGGERT spread throughout Germany and beyond, it also appeared in various place names and toponyms. For example, the town of Eggertshausen in Bavaria and the village of Eggertsdorf in Saxony were likely named after early settlers or landowners with the surname EGGERT.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eggert
Among Census respondents with the surname Eggert, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Eggert 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 Eggert surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.8% · 4,701
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 188
- Two or more races3.0% · 153
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 26
- Black or African American0.5% · 24
Timeline
Historical Census data for Eggert
Eggert 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
#6,296
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,427
-250 bearers (-4.4%)
Per 100,000 1.84
Rank movement Down 690 places
2020
#6,387
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,120
-307 bearers (-5.7%)
Per 100,000 1.71
Rank movement Down 91 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,606 | 5,677 | 2.10 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,296 | 5,427 | 1.84 | -250 bearers (-4.4%) | Down 690 places |
| 2020 | #6,387 | 5,120 | 1.71 | -307 bearers (-5.7%) | Down 91 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 Eggert 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 | #6,296 | #6,387 | -1.4% |
| Count | 5,427 | 5,120 | -5.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.84 | 1.71 | -6.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Eggert bearers went from 5,427 to 5,120 (-5.7% change). The surname moved down 91 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,296 to #6,387.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Eggert
FAQ
Eggert surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Eggert?
Name Census estimates that about 5,871 living Americans carry the surname Eggert. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 58,381 residents.
How common is Eggert?
Eggert ranks #6,387 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.71 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,120 people with the surname Eggert. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,871), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.71 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.71 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Eggert.
Has Eggert become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Eggert went from 5,427 recorded bearers to 5,120. That is a decrease of 307 (-5.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,296 to #6,387.
What does the Census say about the background of Eggert?
Among Census respondents with the surname Eggert, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.7%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Eggert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.8% (4,701 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Eggert appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.8%), Hispanic (3.7%), Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Eggert (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 Eggert mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a farmhand or tender of cattle and pigs. 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 Eggert (1.71 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 share the surname Eggert?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.