Explore the Family Name Schmelzer

The meaning of Schmelzer

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a smelter, from an agent derivative of Middle High German smelzen, German schmelzen ‘to smelt metal’ or ‘make glass’. Some characteristic forenames: German Kurt, Hans, Otto, Franz, Fritz, Jurgen.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Schmelzer saw a slight dip in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 13,812th in terms of commonality among surnames but dropped to 14,537th by 2010, marking a change of -5.25%. The count of individuals with this surname also showed a minimal rise from 2,009 to 2,050, an increase of 2.04%. However, its proportion per 100,000 people decreased by 6.76%, moving from 0.74 in 2000 to 0.69 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#13,812	#14,537	-5.25%
Count	2,009	2,050	2.04%
Proportion per 100k	0.74	0.69	-6.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Schmelzer

Turning to ethnicity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority of those with the Schmelzer surname identified as White, accounting for 97.86% in 2000 and slightly decreasing to 96.73% in 2010. The number of individuals identifying as Hispanic saw a notable increase of 54.39%, rising from 1.14% in 2000 to 1.76% in 2010. Those identifying with two or more races also saw a substantial rise, jumping by 104% from 0.50% to 1.02%. There was little to no change in the percentage of Schmelzers who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, while the percentages for Black, American Indian, and Alaskan Native were suppressed (S) for privacy reasons.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.86%	96.73%	-1.15%
Hispanic	1.14%	1.76%	54.39%
Two or More Races	0.5%	1.02%	104%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.3%	0.29%	-3.33%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%