Explore the Family Name Gier
The meaning of Gier
1. German: nickname from Middle High German gir ‘greedy, rapacious’. 2. North German: variant of Geyer. 3. German: from a short form of a personal name based on the ancient German element gēr ‘spear, lance’, for example Gerhardt.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Gier in the United States?
Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Gier has seen a slight decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 17,548th most popular surname in the United States, but by 2010, it had slipped down to 19,955th. Similarly, the count of individuals carrying the Gier surname dropped from 1,479 in 2000 to 1,344 in 2010, marking a decline of 9.13%. The proportion of people with this last name per 100,000 also decreased from 0.55 to 0.46 during this period.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #17,548 | #19,955 | -13.72% |
| Count | 1,479 | 1,344 | -9.13% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.55 | 0.46 | -16.36% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gier
The ethnicity breakdown for the surname Gier also underwent notable changes over the same decade as per the Decennial U.S. Census data. While the majority of individuals with this surname identified as white—94.39% in 2000 and 92.34% in 2010—there were certain shifts among other ethnic identities. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased from 1.89% to 2.83%, and those identifying as Hispanic nearly doubled from 1.15% to 2.08%. Meanwhile, the percentage of individuals of two or more races remained relatively stable at around 1.4%. There were no recorded instances of individuals with the Gier surname identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 94.39% | 92.34% | -2.17% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 1.89% | 2.83% | 49.74% |
| Hispanic | 1.15% | 2.08% | 80.87% |
| Two or More Races | 1.42% | 1.41% | -0.7% |
| Black | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |