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

Bielema, 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 Bielema surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bielema in America

Bielema is the 80131st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bielema surname appeared 237 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 Bielema.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bielema 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 Bielema

The surname Bielema has its origins in the German language, and it is believed to have emerged in the late Middle Ages, around the 14th or 15th century. The name is thought to be derived from the Old German word "bil," which means "hill" or "slope," and the suffix "-ema" or "-ma," which was commonly used to denote a place or locality.

This suggests that the name Bielema may have initially referred to individuals who lived near or on a hill or sloped area. The earliest recorded instances of the name appear in various regional documents and records from parts of what is now modern-day Germany, particularly in the northern and central regions.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in a 16th-century church register from the town of Büren, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This record mentions a certain Johann Bielema, who was born in 1542. Another notable early reference is found in the municipal archives of the city of Braunschweig, where a merchant named Heinrick Bielema is mentioned in a trade document dated 1588.

In the 17th century, the Bielema name appears to have spread to other parts of Germany, as well as neighboring regions. For instance, a record from the town of Schöningen in Lower Saxony mentions a farmer named Hans Bielema, who lived in the late 1600s. Similarly, a birth record from the city of Cologne in the Rhineland region lists a child named Anna Bielema, born to parents Joachim and Maria Bielema in 1674.

As for notable individuals with the Bielema surname, one of the earliest was Johannes Bielema, a Protestant theologian and author who lived from 1565 to 1627. He was born in the town of Leer, in what is now Lower Saxony, and is known for his works on religious doctrine and polemics.

Another significant figure was Friedrich Bielema, a 19th-century German lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Reichstag (the Imperial Parliament) from 1871 to 1884. He was born in Osnabrück in 1818 and passed away in 1892.

In more recent times, Bert Bielema (born 1971) is a notable American football coach who has served as the head coach for several college teams, including the University of Arkansas and the University of Illinois.

Overall, the surname Bielema has a long and rich history, with its roots firmly planted in the Germanic regions of Europe. While the exact origin and meaning of the name may be subject to some debate, it undoubtedly reflects the cultural and linguistic heritage of the areas where it first emerged and became established.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bielema

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

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

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

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