# Sanger (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/sanger/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as an occupation.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,732 |
| US rank (2010) | 8,787 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 82,729 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.5% (3,572 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsæŋə/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Sanker |

## Etymology

An occupational surname from Middle English, from Old English sangere (“singer”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Sanger in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 91% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 2.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Sanger in the United States, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Austria and Australia.

## People named Sanger

- Larry Sanger, American former professor, co-founder of Wikipedia, founder of Citizendium and other proje
- Frederick Sanger, British biochemist (1918–2013)
- Margaret Sanger, American birth control activist and nurse (1879–1966)
- Eugen Sänger, Austrian aerospace engineer (1905-1964)
- Ruth Sanger, Australian haematologist (1918–2001)
- David E. Sanger, American reporter

## Similar surnames

Singer, Songer, Senger, Swanger, Sankar, Shoemaker, Schumacher, Shumaker, Schmucker, Schumaker, Schoonmaker, Shankar.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.