Explore the Family Name Desch

The meaning of Desch

South German: variant of Tasch, a metonymic occupational name for maker of bags and purses, or a topographic name for someone who lived by a field with irregular angles. Some characteristic forenames: German Dieter, Eberhardt, Armin.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Desch has seen a decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 16,283 in popularity with a count of 1,629 people carrying the name. By 2010, its rank had dropped to 20,239 and the count decreased to 1,315. This represents a change of -24.3 in rank and a -19.28 decrease in the number of individuals with the Desch surname. Consequently, the proportion of people with this last name per 100,000 also fell by 25.0 percent from 0.6 to 0.45.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#16,283	#20,239	-24.3%
Count	1,629	1,315	-19.28%
Proportion per 100k	0.6	0.45	-25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Desch

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides an insight into the ethnic identity associated with the surname Desch. In terms of ethnicity, the majority of individuals with this last name identified as White, with percentages of 97.97 in 2000 and 97.64 in 2010. The proportion of those identifying as Hispanic saw the most significant increase, rising 130.23 percent from 0.43 to 0.99. There was a minor drop in the percentage of those who identified as having two or more ethnic backgrounds, from 0.92 to 0.46. Meanwhile, the Black demographic went from 0.31 to zero, and no notable changes were detected for the Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native groups.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.97%	97.64%	-0.34%
Hispanic	0.43%	0.99%	130.23%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.46%	0%
Two or More Races	0.92%	0.46%	-50%
Black	0.31%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%