How common is the surname Messer?

20,306 people in the United States had the surname Messer in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 15,205 Americans. It ranked 1,769th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Messer?

In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Messer identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Messer?

Luke Messer, American politician in Indiana (born 1969).

Where is the surname Messer most common?

Wikidata records people named Messer in the United States.

Is the surname Messer getting more or less common?

More common. 19,819 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 20,306 in 2010, up 2.5%.

The surname Messer

A German occupational surname, carried by 20,306 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex M260

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Messer is more common than 98.9% of them.

Origin

German origin

Two main origins: * Borrowed from German Messer (“knife”), a metonymic occupational surname for a cutler. * An English occupational surname for someone who kept watch over harvested crops, from Old French messier (“harvest warden”).

Messer is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 20,306 people named Messer in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 15,205 Americans. That is up 2.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 19,819.

#1,769

rank among US surnames

20,306

people in 2010

6.9

per 100,000 Americans

+2.5%

change since 2000 (was #1,657)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,760	Barnard	20,366	15,160
#1,763	Carlisle	20,365	15,161
#1,764	Hargrove	20,360	15,164
#1,765	Keenan	20,353	15,170
#1,766	North	20,343	15,177
#1,767	Dasilva	20,338	15,181
#1,768	Ledesma	20,311	15,201

Who is named Messer

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

94% of people named Messer identified as white (not Hispanic), 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.8% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 94%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.9%
Two or more races 1.8%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Messers

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Luke Messer
American politician in Indiana (born 1969)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Messer

Messer has the Soundex code M260, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M260.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Messer come from?: Two main origins: * Borrowed from German Messer (“knife”), a metonymic occupational surname for a cutler. * An English occupational surname for someone who kept watch over harvested crops, from Old French messier (“harvest warden”).
How common is the surname Messer?: 20,306 people in the United States had the surname Messer in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 15,205 Americans. It ranked 1,769th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Messer?: In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Messer identified as white (not Hispanic), and 1.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Messer?: Luke Messer, American politician in Indiana (born 1969).
Where is the surname Messer most common?: Wikidata records people named Messer in the United States.
What type of surname is Messer?: Messer is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Messer getting more or less common?: More common. 19,819 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 20,306 in 2010, up 2.5%.