Explore the Family Name Pensinger

The meaning of Pensinger

Probably an altered form of German Benzinger, a habitational name from Benzingen near Sigmaringen in southern Germany.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Pensinger has seen a significant decline in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In the year 2000, Pensinger ranked 41,382 in popularity, but by 2010, it had fallen to 79,598 — a dramatic drop of 92.35%. The count of individuals with this surname also decreased by over half during this time period, going from 496 in 2000 to just 239 in 2010, representing a decrease of 51.81%. The proportion of individuals named Pensinger per 100k people fell from 0.18 to 0.08, marking a 55.56% decrease.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#41,382	#79,598	-92.35%
Count	496	239	-51.81%
Proportion per 100k	0.18	0.08	-55.56%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pensinger

The ethnicity distribution of those bearing the Pensinger surname has also changed from 2000 to 2010 based on the Decennial U.S. Census data. White individuals held the majority of this surname, although there was a slight decrease from 94.76% in 2000 to 92.89% in 2010. The Hispanic population saw an increase, however, growing from 2.42% to 5.02% within the same time frame, which represents a 107.44% change. Individuals identifying as two or more races and Black both went from a 1.01% share in 2000 to zero by 2010, signifying a complete disappearance of these groups. No Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native individuals were recorded with this surname in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.76%	92.89%	-1.97%
Hispanic	2.42%	5.02%	107.44%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	1.01%	0%	-100%
Black	1.01%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%