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

Costan, 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 Costan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Costan in America

Costan is the 107669th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Costan surname appeared 165 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 Costan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Costan 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 Costan

The surname Costan originates from the Roman province of Dacia, which encompassed parts of modern-day Romania and Moldova. It can be traced back to the Latin word "costa," meaning "rib" or "side," suggesting that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a hillside or riverbank.

During the Middle Ages, the name appears in various manuscripts and records from the region, often spelled as "Costanus" or "Costaninus." One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Andrei Costan, a nobleman who lived in Wallachia (present-day southern Romania) in the 14th century.

In the 15th century, the Costan family gained prominence in the principality of Moldavia, with several members holding important positions in the court and the church. One notable figure was Petru Costan, a diplomat and advisor to Prince Stephen the Great (1457-1504), who played a crucial role in the battles against the Ottoman Empire.

As the name spread across Eastern Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, such as "Kostan," "Costyn," and "Costin." In the 16th century, Miron Costin (1633-1691), a Moldavian chronicler and statesman, wrote extensively about the history of his homeland, contributing to the preservation of the region's cultural heritage.

The Costan name also found its way to other parts of Europe, with records showing individuals bearing the name in Italy and France as early as the 17th century. One such person was Giovanni Battista Costan (1670-1748), an Italian painter known for his religious works and frescoes adorning churches in Rome and Naples.

In the 19th century, Constantin Costan (1818-1892), a Romanian politician and journalist, played a pivotal role in the country's struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire. He served as a member of the Wallachian Revolutionary Government in 1848 and later became a member of the Romanian Academy.

As the centuries passed, the Costan name continued to spread across different parts of the world, with notable bearers including the American composer and conductor Dimitri Costan (1892-1975), who was born in Russia and later immigrated to the United States, and the French philosopher and writer Maurice Costan (1926-2003), known for his works on ethics and existentialism.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Costan

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

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

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

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