Altmiller last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Altmiller

An old German surname meaning someone from the old mill.

Altmiller, 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 Altmiller surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Altmiller in America

Altmiller is the 91221st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Altmiller surname appeared 202 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 Altmiller.

We can also compare 2010 data for Altmiller 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank91221891722.27%
Count2021934.56%
Proportion per 100k0.070.070.00%

The history of the last name Altmiller

The surname Altmiller has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the medieval period. The name is derived from the German words "alt," meaning "old," and "Müller," which refers to a miller or someone who operated a mill. This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who worked at an old or established mill.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Altmiller can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of historical documents from the 13th century. In this record, a person named Heinrich Altmiller is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in the year 1287.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Altmiller name appeared in various church and municipal records throughout southern Germany, particularly in the regions of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. One notable individual from this time was Johannes Altmiller, a Lutheran pastor born in 1562 in the town of Augsburg, who played a significant role in the religious debates of the Reformation era.

As the name spread across Germany and into neighboring regions, it also underwent variations in spelling, such as Altmüller, Altmüllner, and Altmüllere. These variations often reflected regional dialects and linguistic differences.

In the 18th century, a branch of the Altmiller family migrated to the United States, settling in the state of Pennsylvania. One of the earliest recorded Altmillers in America was Johann Altmiller, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1743 and later established a successful milling business in Berks County.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, several individuals with the Altmiller surname achieved notable accomplishments. These include:

  1. Karl Altmiller (1819-1892), a German-American painter and lithographer known for his landscapes and portraits of Native Americans.
  2. Emilie Altmiller (1846-1927), a German opera singer and voice teacher who performed at the Weimar Court Theatre.
  3. August Altmiller (1871-1948), an Austrian architect and urban planner who designed several prominent buildings in Vienna.
  4. Otto Altmiller (1888-1962), a German engineer and inventor who developed early versions of the helicopter and co-founded the Altmiller Aircraft Corporation.
  5. Hildegard Altmiller (1904-1982), a Swiss-born American artist and sculptor known for her abstract metalwork and ceramic pieces.

While the Altmiller name has evolved and spread across various regions, it remains rooted in its German origins and connection to the milling trade of medieval times.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Altmiller

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

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 Altmiller was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only98.02%198
Non-Hispanic Black Only0.00%0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races0.00%0
Hispanic Origin(S)%(S)

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 Altmiller has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

20102000Change (%)
White98.02%97.93%0.09%
Black0.00%0.00%0.00%
Asian and Pacific Islander(S)%(S)%(S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%(S)%(S)%
Two or More Races0.00%(S)%(S)%
Hispanic(S)%(S)%(S)%

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 Altmiller was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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