Explore the Family Name Panther

The meaning of Panther

1. German: variant of Panter 1. 2. English: variant of Panter 3. 3. Native American: translation into English (and shortening) of any personal name based on a word meaning generically ‘cat’, but more specifically denoting a ‘panther’; see Tiger. 4. Germanized or Americanized form of Slovenian Pantar or of its rare variant Panter 4.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Panther has moderately increased in popularity between the years 2000 and 2010. The rank of this surname moved up from 21,902 to 20,434, a change of 6.7%. In terms of the count, there were 1,105 individuals with this surname in 2000 which rose to 1,300 in 2010, marking a significant increase of 17.65%. Additionally, the proportion per 100k also saw an uptick from 0.41 to 0.44; a growth rate of 7.32%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#21,902	#20,434	6.7%
Count	1,105	1,300	17.65%
Proportion per 100k	0.41	0.44	7.32%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Panther

The ethnic identity associated with the Panther surname is quite diverse as well. According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the most prevalent ethnicity associated with the Panther surname was white, but it decreased from 74.84% in 2000 to 69.08% in 2010. The Asian/Pacific Islander group saw a substantial increase of 96.16%, jumping from 4.43% in 2000 to 8.69% in 2010. There was also a sharp rise in those identifying as Black, from 1.45% to 4.31%. Those who identify as Hispanic showed minimal growth, while the percentage of those with two or more races declined. The American Indian and Alaskan Native component also experienced a decrease by 7.26%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	74.84%	69.08%	-7.7%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	12.94%	12%	-7.26%
Asian/Pacific Islander	4.43%	8.69%	96.16%
Black	1.45%	4.31%	197.24%
Hispanic	2.99%	3.15%	5.35%
Two or More Races	3.35%	2.77%	-17.31%