The Messer surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 20,306 people carried this name — #1,769 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 14,500 people counted. That is up 2% from 19,819 in 2000.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
446 people named Messer live in Switzerland.
They live in 14 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Bern.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere 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 France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 173 people named Messer.
9 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 23 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 Argentina’s national register
At least 81 people named Messer live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Misiones.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
31 people named Messer is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Messer in American newspapers,
1926.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 1,107,826 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Messer,
with a public archive behind them.
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Charles McIlvaine Messer 1874–1938 -
Adolf Messer 1878–1954 · entrepreneur -
Adolf Messer 1878–1954 · entrepreneur
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Ernestine Messer 1861–1943
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August Messer 1867–1937 · teacher
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Gittel Messer 1869–1940
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Messer.
- Mesbah 133 · U.S. census
- Meschi 153 · U.S. census
- Mesmer 701 · U.S. census
- Mesnard 314 · U.S. census
- Mesquita 954 · U.S. census
- Messana 497 · U.S. census
- Messerli 377 · U.S. census
- Messier 4,413 · U.S. census
- Messina 12,717 · U.S. census
- Messmer 2,933 · U.S. census
- Messner 5,039 · U.S. census
- Mest 415 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Messer 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.