How common is the surname Wagner?

155,795 people in the United States had the surname Wagner in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,982 Americans. It ranked 173rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Wagner?

Otto Wagner, Austrian architect (1841-1918), followed by Robert Wagner.

Where is the surname Wagner most common?

Wikidata records people named Wagner in the United States, Brazil and Austria and 3 other countries.

How do you pronounce Wagner?

Wagner is /ˈwæɡnɚ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Wagner getting more or less common?

More common. 154,516 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 155,795 in 2010, up 0.8%.

Is Wagner also a first name?

Yes. Wagner is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Wagner

A German surname, carried by 155,795 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈwæɡnɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex W256 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Wagner is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

German origin

Borrowed from German Wagner (literally “wainwright”), later conflated with wheelwright. See also the English surnames Wainwright and Wheelwright. Doublet of Wagoner. As the name of a private military company, borrowed from Russian Ва́гнер (Vágner). Reportedly the call sign of Russian GRU officer and company founder Dmitry Utkin, which was ultimately named after German composer Richard Wagner.

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 155,795 people named Wagner in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 1,982 Americans. That is up 0.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 154,516.

#173

rank among US surnames

155,795

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+0.8%

change since 2000 (was #152)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#164	Shaw	160,400	1,925
#165	Snyder	160,262	1,927
#166	Mason	160,213	1,927
#167	Dixon	159,480	1,936
#168	Munoz	158,483	1,948
#169	Hunt	158,421	1,949
#170	Hicks	158,320	1,950

Who is named Wagner

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

92% of people named Wagner identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.6% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Black (not Hispanic) 2.6%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.4%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Wagners

57 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Otto Wagner
Austrian architect (1841-1918)
Robert Wagner
American actor (born 1930)
Lindsay Wagner
American actress, born 1949
Jorge Wagner
Brazilian association football player, born 1978
Natasha Gregson Wagner
American actress, born 1970
Pamela Rendi-Wagner
Austrian physician and politician (born 1971)
Jack Wagner
American actor and singer (born 1959)
Theodor Wagner
Austrian footballer (1927-2020)
Honus Wagner
American baseball player (1874-1955)
Ashley Wagner
American figure skater, born 1991
Maud Wagner
American circus performer and tattoo artist, 1877–1961
Antônio Wagner de Moraes
Brazilian association football player, born 1966

Notable Wagners come mostly from the United States (41), Brazil (4) and Austria (4).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Wagner

Wagner has the Soundex code W256, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W256.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Wagner come from?: Borrowed from German Wagner (literally “wainwright”), later conflated with wheelwright. See also the English surnames Wainwright and Wheelwright. Doublet of Wagoner. As the name of a private military company, borrowed from Russian Ва́гнер (Vágner). Reportedly the call sign of Russian GRU officer…
How common is the surname Wagner?: 155,795 people in the United States had the surname Wagner in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 1,982 Americans. It ranked 173rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Wagner?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Wagner identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.6% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Wagner?: Otto Wagner, Austrian architect (1841-1918), followed by Robert Wagner.
Where is the surname Wagner most common?: Wikidata records people named Wagner in the United States, Brazil and Austria and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Wagner?: Wagner is /ˈwæɡnɚ/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Wagner getting more or less common?: More common. 154,516 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 155,795 in 2010, up 0.8%.
Is Wagner also a first name?: Yes. Wagner is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.