Explore the Family Name Reffner

The meaning of Reffner

German: occupational name for a peddler, from an agent derivative of Middle High German ref(f) ‘pannier, basket’ (see Reff), or a nickname for a scold, from an agent derivative of Middle High German reffen ‘to scold or chastise’.

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

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

The surname Reffner, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census, experienced a slight drop in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Reffner ranked 34,856th among all American surnames, but slid to 37,341st place by 2010 - a decrease of approximately 7.13%. The actual count of individuals with this surname also declined slightly during this period, falling from 613 to 597, marking a negative change of 2.61%. This reduction was reflected in the proportion of individuals named Reffner per 100k people, which experienced a 13.04% decrease.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#34,856	#37,341	-7.13%
Count	613	597	-2.61%
Proportion per 100k	0.23	0.2	-13.04%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Reffner

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates that the majority of individuals with the surname Reffner identify as White, with percentages of 97.55 in 2000 and 97.32 in 2010. The percentage of Reffners identifying as Hispanic witnessed a slight increase of 2.63%, going from 1.14% in 2000 to 1.17% in 2010. There was also a notable increase in the percentage of individuals who identify with two or more races, growing from 0.82% in 2000 to 1.01% in 2010 - a jump of 23.17%. However, no Reffners identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.55%	97.32%	-0.24%
Hispanic	1.14%	1.17%	2.63%
Two or More Races	0.82%	1.01%	23.17%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%