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

Belter, 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 Belter surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Belter in America

Belter is the 23414th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Belter surname appeared 1,086 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 Belter.

We can also compare 2010 data for Belter 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 Belter

The surname Belter is of German origin and can be traced back to the late Middle Ages. It is derived from the German word "belten," which means "to bark" or "to shout." The name likely originated as a descriptive nickname for someone with a loud or boisterous voice.

The earliest known records of the Belter name date back to the 15th century in the regions of Bavaria and Saxony, where it was commonly spelled as "Belter" or "Beltner." The name appears in several local parish records and tax rolls from that time period, indicating that it was fairly widespread in those areas.

One of the earliest documented individuals with the surname Belter was Hans Belter, a farmer from the village of Oberammergau in Bavaria, who was born around 1450. Another notable early bearer of the name was Kunigunde Belter, a midwife from Leipzig, who was mentioned in a court record from 1492.

In the 16th century, the Belter surname began to spread to other parts of Germany and neighboring regions. In 1532, a man named Peter Belter was recorded as a resident of the city of Nuremberg. Around the same time, a family with the surname Beltner was documented in the town of Bautzen, in what is now eastern Germany.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, several individuals with the Belter surname achieved some level of prominence. Johann Belter (1620-1678) was a prominent lawyer and legal scholar in the city of Frankfurt, while Christoph Belter (1689-1752) was a respected theologian and author based in Leipzig.

As the Belter name spread across Europe, it also underwent various spelling variations, including Belther, Beltner, and Beldter. In the 19th century, the surname was carried by several notable figures, such as the German composer and conductor Karl Belter (1811-1890) and the Austrian painter Rudolf Belter (1867-1934).

Despite its German origins, the Belter surname has also been found in other parts of the world due to migration and immigration patterns. For example, there were several individuals with the name Belter living in the United States by the late 19th century, likely descendants of German immigrants.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Belter

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

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

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

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