2000
#57,406
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 332
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.12
Very Rare Last name
Auster
A surname derived from Austro, the Latin word for east or southeastern referring to residence or origin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 345 Americans carry the last name Auster. That puts it at #70,147 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.10 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 993,491 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Auster surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Auster with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
345
1 in 993,491
Census rank
#70,147
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
301
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 301 bearers of the surname Auster in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.10 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 70147th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Auster, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.6%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Auster
The surname Auster has its origins in Germany and surrounding regions of Central Europe. It is derived from the Old German word 'aust', meaning east or eastern. As such, the name likely referred to someone who lived in the eastern part of a town or village, or who had migrated from the east.
In the early medieval period, the name appeared in various Germanic records and manuscripts with spellings like 'Oster', 'Oester', and 'Auster'. One of the earliest known references is from the Codex Traditionum of the Monastery of Reichenau in the 9th century, where an individual named Austriger is mentioned.
The name also appears in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, compiled by order of William the Conqueror to record landholdings in England. Here, the name is spelled 'Austere' and refers to a landholder in the county of Wiltshire.
Notable historical figures with the surname Auster include Johann Auster (1485-1542), a German theologian and Reformer who was a close associate of Martin Luther. In the 16th century, Hans Auster (1547-1611) was a prominent German composer and organist.
Later, in the 18th century, Johann Christoph Auster (1728-1797) was a respected German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of celestial mechanics. His contemporary, Johann Samuel Auster (1735-1799), was a German painter known for his landscapes and portraits.
Moving into the 19th century, Carl Auster (1813-1892) was a German-American political activist and journalist who played a key role in the failed German revolutions of 1848-49 before emigrating to the United States.
While these are just a few notable examples, the surname Auster has a long and rich history that can be traced back to its Germanic roots and the medieval period in Central Europe.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Auster
Among Census respondents with the surname Auster, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.6%) and Hispanic (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Auster bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Auster surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.7% · 267
- Black or African American6.6% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 8
- Two or more races1.3% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Auster
Auster appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#61,585
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 326
-6 bearers (-1.8%)
Per 100,000 0.11
Rank movement Down 4,179 places
2020
#70,147
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 301
-25 bearers (-7.7%)
Per 100,000 0.10
Rank movement Down 8,562 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #57,406 | 332 | 0.12 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #61,585 | 326 | 0.11 | -6 bearers (-1.8%) | Down 4,179 places |
| 2020 | #70,147 | 301 | 0.10 | -25 bearers (-7.7%) | Down 8,562 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Auster surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #61,585 | #70,147 | -13.9% |
| Count | 326 | 301 | -7.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.11 | 0.10 | -8.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Auster bearers went from 326 to 301 (-7.7% change). The surname moved down 8,562 positions in the national ranking, going from #61,585 to #70,147.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Auster
FAQ
Auster surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Auster?
Name Census estimates that about 345 living Americans carry the surname Auster. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 993,491 residents.
How common is Auster?
Auster ranks #70,147 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.10 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 301 people with the surname Auster. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (345), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.1 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.10 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Auster.
Has Auster become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Auster went from 326 recorded bearers to 301. That is a decrease of 25 (-7.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #61,585 to #70,147.
What does the Census say about the background of Auster?
Among Census respondents with the surname Auster, the largest self-reported group is White at 88.7%. The next largest groups are Black (6.6%) and Hispanic (2.7%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Auster in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.7% (267 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Auster appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (88.7%), Black (6.6%), Hispanic (2.7%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Auster (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Auster mean?
A surname derived from Austro, the Latin word for east or southeastern referring to residence or origin. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Auster (0.10 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Auster?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.