Explore the Family Name Hunger
The meaning of Hunger
1. German: from an ancient Germanic personal name, Hun(e)ger, composed of the elements hūn ‘bear cub’ + gēr, gār ‘spear’. 2. German: ethnic name from Ungar, Unger ‘Hungarian’. 3. German: from Middle High German hunger ‘hunger’, applied as a nickname for a thin or undernourished person, or sometimes a topographic name from a piece of land named with this word with reference to the infertility of the soil. 4. English: from the Middle English personal name Hunger. This could be the Old Norse name Hungeirr (cognate with 1 above) or a borrowing into Old French of ancient Germanic Hunger (perhaps huni- ‘Hun’ + -garwa ‘ready, able’). Some characteristic forenames: German Hans, Helmuth, Armin, Florian, Franziska, Juerg, Kurt, Otto.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Hunger in the United States?
Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Hunger saw a slight fall in popularity between 2000 and 2010, dropping from rank 21,727 to 22,131, which represents a change of -1.86%. However, the count of people with this surname increased during the same period, growing from 1,117 to 1,168, a rise of 4.57%. Despite this increase, the proportion of individuals with this surname per 100,000 decreased slightly, going from 0.41 to 0.40, a decrease of -2.44%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #21,727 | #22,131 | -1.86% |
| Count | 1,117 | 1,168 | 4.57% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.41 | 0.4 | -2.44% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Hunger
In terms of ethnicity, also based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, there were noticeable shifts within the populations carrying the Hunger surname between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander dropped by -40.28%, while the White population shrunk by just -1.54%. The proportion of those identifying as Hispanic also fell slightly, by -16.67%. On the other hand, there were increases in the populations identifying as Black (60.91%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (21.64%), and those reporting two or more races (32.76%).
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 94.09% | 92.64% | -1.54% |
| Black | 1.97% | 3.17% | 60.91% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 1.34% | 1.63% | 21.64% |
| Two or More Races | 1.16% | 1.54% | 32.76% |
| Hispanic | 0.72% | 0.6% | -16.67% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0.72% | 0.43% | -40.28% |