The Gentner surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 2,031 people carried this name — #14,651 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 144,900 people counted. That is up 29% from 1,580 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Gentner surname
An alteration of Geltner via regressive nasal assimilation of the cluster -ltn-, from Middle High German geltner (“rent collector, tax collector”), a derivative of gelten (“to yield, pay”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Gentner» (German), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 166 people named Gentner.
9 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 8 départements, most often Bas-Rhin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
60 people named Gentner live in Switzerland.
They live in 7 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In print
Gentner in American newspapers,
1912–1929.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 3,668 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Gentner,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Carl Gentner 1854–1917 · businessperson -
Karl Gentner 1876–1922 · singer -
Franz Gentner 1847–1922 · local politician
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Hans Gentner 1877–1953 · politician
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Georg Gentner 1877–1940 · university teacher
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Else Gentner-Fischer 1883–1943 · opera singer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Gentner.
- Gentes 402 · U.S. census
- Gentil 408 · U.S. census
- Gentile 14,873 · U.S. census
- Gentili 186 · U.S. census
- Gentilini 332 · U.S. census
- Gentis 290 · U.S. census
- Genton 183 · U.S. census
- Genty 159 · U.S. census
- Geoffrion 529 · U.S. census
- Geoffroy 874 · U.S. census
- Georg 543 · U.S. census
- George 128,625 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Gentner is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.