Explore the Family Name Zentner

The meaning of Zentner

German: 1. variant of Zehner. 2. occupational name from Middle High German zentener ‘district judge’ (see Zentgraf). Some characteristic forenames: German Franz, Gerhard, Kurt, Otto, Raimund.

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

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

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Zentner has seen a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Zentner held the rank of 22,304 among popular surnames, but by 2010 it fell to rank 24,404, reflecting a decrease of about 9.42%. Similarly, the overall count of individuals with this surname also decreased from 1,078 in 2000 to 1,026 in 2010, marking a drop of approximately 4.82%. Consequently, the proportion of the surname per 100k people has also experienced a decrease of 12.5%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#22,304	#24,404	-9.42%
Count	1,078	1,026	-4.82%
Proportion per 100k	0.4	0.35	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Zentner

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides interesting insights into the ethnic identity associated with the surname Zentner. In 2000, the majority identifying as 'White' stood at 96.75%, which slightly reduced to 95.81% in 2010, showing a marginal change of -0.97%. The year 2010 saw an increase in those identifying as 'Hispanic' with the percentage rising to 2.44% from 1.11% in 2000, indicating a significant increase of 119.82%. Other ethnic identities such as 'Asian/Pacific Islander' and 'Black' were not associated with the surname in 2010. Those identifying as 'Two or more races' dropped by 23.53%, and 'American Indian and Alaskan Native' recorded a slight increase of 6.52% during the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.75%	95.81%	-0.97%
Hispanic	1.11%	2.44%	119.82%
Two or More Races	1.02%	0.78%	-23.53%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.46%	0.49%	6.52%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.65%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%