Explore the Family Name Tonnies

The meaning of Tonnies

North German, East Frisian, and North Frisian (Tönnies): patronymic from a shortened pet form of the personal name Antonius (see Anthony). The surname Tönnies is rare in East and North Frisia. Compare Toennies and also Tennies and Tennis.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Tonnies experienced a slight fluctuation in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 90,252nd most popular surname in the United States, with a count of 190 people bearing this name. By 2010, the rank had slipped marginally to 95,545th, even though the actual count of individuals increased slightly to 191. This change represents a minor drop of 5.86% in popularity and a 0.53% increase in the number of people with the surname. Additionally, the proportion of people with this surname per 100,000 decreased by 14.29%, from 0.07 in 2000 to 0.06 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#90,252	#95,545	-5.86%
Count	190	191	0.53%
Proportion per 100k	0.07	0.06	-14.29%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Tonnies

Regarding ethnic identity, the data from the Decennial U.S. Census showed that the Tonnies surname is predominantly associated with White ethnicity. In 2000, a whopping 99.47% of individuals with this surname identified as White, reducing only slightly to 98.95% in 2010. There were no recorded instances of individuals with the Tonnies surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either 2000 or 2010. Similarly, there was no change in the percentage of individuals identifying with two or more races during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	99.47%	98.95%	-0.52%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%