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

Dahm, 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 Dahm surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dahm in America

Dahm is the 14233rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dahm surname appeared 2,107 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Dahm.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dahm 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 Dahm

The surname Dahm originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the late 13th century. It is derived from the German word "Damm," which means "dam" or "dike." This suggests that the name may have been an occupational surname for someone who worked on dams or dikes, or perhaps lived near one.

The earliest known record of the name Dahm appears in a document from the town of Augsburg in 1292, referring to a person named "Heinrich Damme." Other early spellings include "Damme," "Dammen," and "Dammens."

In the 15th century, the name Dahm can be found in various records from several regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and Westphalia. This indicates that the name had spread to different parts of the country by that time.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname Dahm was Johann Dahm, a German composer who lived from around 1500 to 1570. He was a member of the Saxony court chapel and composed several religious works.

Another notable Dahm was Christian Tobias Ephraim Dahm, a German theologian and author who lived from 1725 to 1807. He wrote several books on religious topics and served as a pastor in various churches in Saxony.

In the 19th century, the surname Dahm gained some prominence in the world of science and academia. Carl Gustav Dahm (1838-1904) was a German botanist and plant collector who made significant contributions to the study of South American flora. Ernst Dahm (1865-1932) was a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Berlin.

Furthermore, the name Dahm has been linked to various place names in Germany, such as Dahmen, a municipality in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, and Dammendorf, a village in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Throughout history, several other individuals with the surname Dahm have made notable contributions in various fields, including politics, literature, and the arts, further solidifying the name's place in German heritage and cultural identity.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dahm

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

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

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

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