2000
#6,528
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,793
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.78
Rare Last name
Messner
An occupational surname referring to a knife maker, from the German word "Messer" meaning knife.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 5,395 Americans carry the last name Messner. That puts it at #6,880 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.57 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 63,532 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Messner 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
5.4K
1 in 63,532
Census rank
#6,880
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.7K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,705 bearers of the surname Messner in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.57 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 6880th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Messner, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Messner
The surname Messner is of German origin, deriving from the Middle High German word "messenære," which referred to someone who rang the church bell or served as a sexton. This occupational surname originated in the regions of Bavaria and Austria during the 13th century.
The earliest known record of the name appears in a Bavarian document from 1285, where a "Chunrat der Mesner" is mentioned. The name was also found in various forms, such as Messner, Messener, and Mesner, in medieval records from cities like Munich and Salzburg.
One of the earliest noteworthy individuals with the surname was Johannes Messner, a German composer and organist born in Nuremberg in 1562. His compositions, particularly his organ works, were highly regarded during the Renaissance period.
In the 17th century, a prominent figure named Johann Messner (1624-1689) was a Protestant theologian and author from Strasbourg, known for his writings on Christian doctrine and ethics.
The name Messner also has connections to places like Messnerhaus, a hamlet in the Austrian state of Tyrol, which derived its name from the Messner family who resided there.
Among the famous individuals with the surname Messner is Reinhold Messner, an Italian mountaineer and explorer born in 1944. He is renowned for being the first person to climb all fourteen eight-thousanders (peaks over 8,000 meters) without supplemental oxygen.
Another notable Messner was Siegfried Messner (1896-1944), an Austrian chess master and one of the strongest players in the world during the 1920s and 1930s.
In more recent history, Günther Messner (1946-2005) was a German actor and comedian known for his roles in various television shows and films in Germany.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Messner
Among Census respondents with the surname Messner, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Messner 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 Messner surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.0% · 4,374
- Two or more races2.7% · 127
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 124
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 45
- Black or African American0.5% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 12
Timeline
Historical Census data for Messner
Messner 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
#6,701
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,039
+246 bearers (+5.1%)
Per 100,000 1.71
Rank movement Down 173 places
2020
#6,880
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,705
-334 bearers (-6.6%)
Per 100,000 1.57
Rank movement Down 179 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,528 | 4,793 | 1.78 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,701 | 5,039 | 1.71 | +246 bearers (+5.1%) | Down 173 places |
| 2020 | #6,880 | 4,705 | 1.57 | -334 bearers (-6.6%) | Down 179 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 Messner 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 | #6,701 | #6,880 | -2.7% |
| Count | 5,039 | 4,705 | -6.6% |
| Per 100K | 1.71 | 1.57 | -7.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Messner bearers went from 5,039 to 4,705 (-6.6% change). The surname moved down 179 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,701 to #6,880.
FAQ
Messner surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Messner?
Name Census estimates that about 5,395 living Americans carry the surname Messner. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 63,532 residents.
How common is Messner?
Messner ranks #6,880 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.57 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 4,705 people with the surname Messner. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (5,395), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.57 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.57 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 Messner.
Has Messner become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Messner went from 5,039 recorded bearers to 4,705. That is a decrease of 334 (-6.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #6,701 to #6,880.
What does the Census say about the background of Messner?
Among Census respondents with the surname Messner, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.7%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Messner in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.0% (4,374 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Messner appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.0%), Two or More Races (2.7%), Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Messner (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 Messner mean?
An occupational surname referring to a knife maker, from the German word "Messer" meaning knife. 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 Messner (1.57 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 Messner?
You can see how common the surname Messner is on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.