Dat last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Dat

An archaic Vietnamese surname of possible Chinese origin.

Dat, 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 Dat surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dat in America

Dat is the 105079th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dat surname appeared 170 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 Dat.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dat 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 105079 89549 15.96%
Count 170 192 -12.15%
Proportion per 100k 0.06 0.07 -15.38%

The history of the last name Dat

The surname Dat has its origins in the Netherlands, with records indicating its presence as early as the 15th century. It is believed to have derived from the Dutch word "dat," which means "that" or "this," suggesting a possible connection to a person or place associated with this word.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Dat can be found in the archives of the city of Amsterdam, where a merchant named Hendrick Dat was mentioned in a trade document dated 1487. This provides evidence of the name's longstanding presence in the Netherlands.

In the 16th century, the surname Dat appeared in various historical records across the Dutch provinces. For instance, a farmer named Jan Dat was listed in a land registry in the village of Zwolle in 1542. Additionally, a court document from the city of Utrecht in 1568 mentioned a legal dispute involving a man named Pieter Dat.

As the Dutch colonial empire expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries, the surname Dat likely spread to other parts of the world. One notable figure was Adriaan Dat, a Dutch explorer and cartographer who accompanied the famous navigator Willem Jansz on his expeditions to the East Indies in the early 1600s. Adriaan Dat's detailed maps and charts played a crucial role in the development of Dutch trade routes in the region.

In the 19th century, a prominent individual bearing the surname Dat was Johannes Dat, a renowned Dutch painter and engraver born in 1815. His intricate landscapes and portraits earned him widespread acclaim, and his works are still celebrated in various art museums across the Netherlands today.

Another noteworthy individual was Willem Dat, a Dutch engineer who played a significant role in the construction of the iconic Afsluitdijk, a major causeway and dike in the Netherlands, completed in 1932. His innovative engineering solutions helped overcome the challenges of building such a massive structure across the Zuiderzee.

While these examples highlight the historical presence of the surname Dat in the Netherlands and its contributions to various fields, it's important to note that the name has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and cultural exchange over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dat

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

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 Dat was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 25.29% 43
Non-Hispanic Black Only 18.82% 32
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 47.06% 80
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 4.12% 7
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

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 Dat has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 25.29% 42.19% -50.09%
Black 18.82% 11.46% 48.61%
Asian and Pacific Islander 47.06% 33.33% 34.16%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 4.12% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races (S)% 10.94% (S)%
Hispanic (S)% (S)% (S)%

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

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

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Dat last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on May 2, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/dat-surname-popularity/.

"Dat last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/dat-surname-popularity/. Accessed 2 May, 2025

Dat last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/dat-surname-popularity/.

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