Each RUNNER/RENNER/LAUFFER family lineage tells its own unique and interesting story. For example, one branch includes a German family named LAUFFER (or Laufer) settling in Maryland in the 1700s, eventually changing their name to Runner, and moving in the early 1800s to what would become West Virginia. For others, this may include ancestors that at one time spelled their name RENNER, as there seem to be many Runner/Renner connections. And there are certainly many similar Runner stories. There have been Runner families in the US since the first census was taken in 1790. At that time there were ten Runner families (heads of household named Runner) in four different counties (Frederick, MD, Lancaster and Philadelphia, PA, and Bertie, NC). By 1850, the first year that the US census named all family members, there were 249 Runners, now spread out to 40 counties in nine states (four counties in Indiana, four in Kentucky, one in Louisiana, two in Missouri, four in New York, nine in Ohio, eight in Pennsylvania, two in Tennessee, seven in Virginia). By 1880 there were 493 Runners in 21 of the then 46 states and territories and by 1930 there were 986 Runners in 38 of the then 57 states and territories. Now, 75 years later, it is likely there are Runners in every state in the US. Outside of the US, there were only six Runners in the 1881 British census; and the International Genealogical Index lists just a handful of Runners in Germany, France, Switzerland and Sweden. Thus, it does seem that most Runners are in the US.