Names & living heritage
What are the most common German surnames in Missouri today?
Meyer, Mueller, Schmidt, Weber, Wagner, Schneider, and Fischer are prominent German-language surnames in Missouri-specific estimates. Miller ranks higher than any of these, but its bearers cannot all be counted as German.
Research checked September 11, 2026 · Data dates and limits below
Missouri-specific evidence
Common names in the state estimates
Selected names with documented German-language origins, ordered by their rank among all Missouri surnames in Forebears’ Missouri table. This is an illustrative selection, not an exhaustive German-surname top eight.
| Surname / origin source | Missouri rank All surnames | Reported incidence Forebears estimate | German-language connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miller | 7 | 47,220 | Can derive from Müller, but also has English, Scottish, and other origins. |
| Meyer | 32 | 17,065 | German steward or tenant-farmer name; also has other origins, including Jewish. |
| Mueller | 75 | 10,060 | A spelling of Müller, an occupational name for a miller. |
| Schmidt | 80 | 9,388 | An occupational surname associated with a smith. |
| Weber | 112 | 7,772 | An occupational surname associated with weaving. |
| Wagner | 144 | 6,784 | An occupational surname associated with wagon making. |
| Schneider | 145 | 6,770 | An occupational surname associated with tailoring. |
| Fischer | 188 | 5,473 | An occupational surname associated with fishing. |
“Incidence” is the source’s reported estimate, not a verified number of present-day residents or German Americans. Its Missouri observation date and state-specific sampling details could not be verified. Treat the figures as directional; do not calculate current population shares from them.
Origin is a different question
A German name is not an ancestry count
Surname dictionaries explain linguistic roots; they do not measure Missouri frequency. Several names also occur in Jewish, Dutch, Swiss, or other family traditions. Miller, for example, can be an English or Scottish occupational name as well as an American form of Müller.
The linked names in the table lead to entries from the Dictionary of American Family Names, second edition (2022), reproduced by Ancestry. A family’s own records are needed to establish its history.
Read the spellings carefully
Related names stay separate
Mueller, Müller, Muller, and Miller may be related in particular family histories, but the table does not combine them. Nor does it merge Meyer with Meier or Mayer, or Schmidt with Schmitt.
Lists of popular names in Germany and counts in genealogy trees answer different questions. Neither is evidence of how many living Missourians carry a surname today.
Sources & method
Where the answer comes from
- U.S. Census Bureau: 2020 Census names release (April 14, 2026). Official national-level counts, not Missouri estimates. See also the 2020 last-name methodology report.
- Forebears: Most Common Surnames in Missouri. Source of every rank and incidence above. These state-specific figures should not be described as Census data or current official totals.
- Forebears: distribution methodology. Describes a compilation of many sources and a global version released in August 2019, not a uniform Missouri census. Its accuracy explanation calls the statistics approximations.
- Dictionary of American Family Names, second edition (2022), via Ancestry. Individual origin entries are linked in each table row. Used for meanings and overlapping origins only, not Missouri population counts.
Selection method: cross-reference eight familiar German-associated names against the Missouri table, retain the source’s exact spellings and all-surname ranks, and explain origin separately. No ethnicity was assigned to individual people.