Explore the Family Name Schnitzer

The meaning of Schnitzer

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from Middle High German snitzære ‘woodcutter, carver, crossbow maker’. German Schnitzer. Some characteristic forenames: Jewish Hillel, Chaim, Avraham, Leib, Meyer, Myer, Shraga, Zev. German Wolf, Ernst, Kurt, Math, Willi.

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

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

The surname "Schnitzer" was ranked 16,494th in popularity according to the Decennial U.S. Census data from 2000. A decade later, in 2010, it had fallen slightly to 17,455th, marking a decrease of 5.83%. Despite this drop in rank, the actual count of individuals with the Schnitzer surname increased marginally from 1,604 in 2000 to 1,615 in 2010, indicating a growth of 0.69%. Its proportion per 100k people also decreased by 6.78%, from 0.59 to 0.55.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#16,494	#17,455	-5.83%
Count	1,604	1,615	0.69%
Proportion per 100k	0.59	0.55	-6.78%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Schnitzer

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates that in both 2000 and 2010, the majority of individuals with the Schnitzer surname identified as White, with 97.51% in 2000 decreasing slightly to 96.59% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander remained constant at 0.62% over the two censuses. The proportion of individuals identifying with two or more races saw a significant increase from 0.69% in 2000 to 1.18% in 2010, a surge of 71.01%. The Hispanic segment also experienced an increase from 1.06% to 1.42%, a growth of 33.96%. No Schnitzers identified as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.51%	96.59%	-0.94%
Hispanic	1.06%	1.42%	33.96%
Two or More Races	0.69%	1.18%	71.01%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.62%	0.62%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%