Explore the Family Name Bridger

The meaning of Bridger

1. English: from an agent derivative of Middle English brigge, brugge ‘bridge’ (Old English brycg), denoting either someone who lived near a bridge or the keeper of a bridge. See Bridge. 2. Americanized form of German Brücker (see Brucker).

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Bridger in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Bridger has held relatively stable in popularity over the last decade. In 2000 the name was ranked 16,754 in terms of frequency and by 2010 it had slightly dropped to a ranking of 16,839. However, the count of individuals with this surname increased by nearly 8% from 1,570 in 2000 to 1,695 in 2010. The proportion per 100,000 people barely changed, decreasing only slightly from 0.58 to 0.57.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#16,754	#16,839	-0.51%
Count	1,570	1,695	7.96%
Proportion per 100k	0.58	0.57	-1.72%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Bridger

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Bridger showed some shifts between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. While the percentage of those identifying as White decreased slightly from 94.39% to 92.21%, the percentages of those identifying as Hispanic, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native all saw increases. The Hispanic population rose by 50%, the Black population by 18.34%, and the American Indian and Alaskan Native population by 71.11%. The group identifying with two or more races saw a significant rise by 127.14%, while there was a slight decrease among those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.39%	92.21%	-2.31%
Black	2.29%	2.71%	18.34%
Hispanic	1.34%	2.01%	50%
Two or More Races	0.7%	1.59%	127.14%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.45%	0.77%	71.11%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.83%	0.71%	-14.46%