The Messner surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,039 people carried this name — #6,701 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 58,500 people counted. That is up 5% from 4,793 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Messner surname
Jewish and south German occupational surname for a churchwarden, from Middle High German mesnære, from Old High German mesināri, from Late Latin mansionarius, a derivative of mansio (“abode, dwelling”). This is also Slavicized as Slovene Mežnar (see Meznarich).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Messner» (English), 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 220 people named Messner.
10 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 21 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
136 people named Messner live in Switzerland.
They live in 12 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Bern.
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 the Nordic population registers
47 people named Messner 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).
Who carried it
People named Messner,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Josef Messner 1822–1862 · writer -
Emil Messner 1875–1942 · engineer -
Josef Messner d. 1985 · teacher
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Christian Meßner 1805–1874 · musical instrument maker
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Joseph Messner 1837–1886 · painter
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Oskar Messner 1848–1917 · musician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Messner.
- Messana 497 · U.S. census
- Messer 20,306 · 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
- Mest 415 · U.S. census
- Mestas 2,375 · U.S. census
- Mestayer 289 · U.S. census
- Mestdagh 101 · U.S. census
- Meston 295 · U.S. census
- Mestre 1,187 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Messner 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.