Find out how popular the last name Abma is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Abma.

Abma, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Abma surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Abma in America

Abma is the 99845th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Abma surname appeared 181 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Abma.

We can also compare 2010 data for Abma to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Abma

The surname ABMA is of Dutch origin, dating back to the 16th century in the Netherlands. It is believed to derive from the Dutch word "abma," which means "a meadow or grassland." This suggests that the name may have been originally associated with a person who lived near or worked on a meadow or grassland.

The earliest recorded instance of the ABMA surname can be found in the Dutch province of Friesland, where the name was particularly prevalent in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is likely that the name originated in this region and was then carried to other parts of the Netherlands and beyond by migration.

In the late 16th century, an individual named Pieter ABMA was mentioned in a legal document from the city of Leeuwarden, Friesland. This is one of the earliest known references to the ABMA name in written records. Additionally, the name appeared in the Frisian manuscript "Codex Aysma," which dates back to the early 17th century.

One notable ABMA was Jan ABMA, a Dutch military officer and colonial administrator who lived from 1628 to 1704. He served as the Governor of Dutch Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) from 1697 to 1703, during the Dutch colonial period in the region.

Another historically significant figure with the ABMA surname was Gerben ABMA, a Dutch politician and jurist who lived from 1856 to 1924. He served as a member of the Dutch Senate and was instrumental in the development of Dutch labor laws.

In the late 19th century, a Dutch artist named Simon ABMA (1865-1944) gained recognition for his landscape paintings, which often depicted the rural scenery of the Netherlands, including meadows and grasslands.

The ABMA name can also be found in historical records from other parts of Europe, suggesting that individuals with this surname migrated from the Netherlands to other countries over time. For example, there are records of the ABMA name in Germany and Belgium dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

Overall, the surname ABMA has a rich history rooted in the Netherlands, with its origins likely stemming from the Dutch word for "meadow" or "grassland." While the name may have spread to other regions, it remains closely associated with its Dutch heritage and the historical figures who bore this surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Abma

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Abma.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Abma was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Abma has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Abma was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Abma, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!