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

Deselms, 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 Deselms surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Deselms in America

Deselms is the 58604th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Deselms surname appeared 346 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 Deselms.

We can also compare 2010 data for Deselms 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 Deselms

The surname DESELMS is believed to have originated in Germany during the medieval period, possibly as early as the 12th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old German words "des" meaning "the" and "elms" referring to an elm tree or elm forest. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near or was associated with an elm tree or grove of elm trees.

One of the earliest known recorded instances of the name DESELMS can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Anhaltinus, a collection of historical documents from the region of Anhalt in central Germany, dating back to the 13th century. This manuscript mentions a certain "Henricus Deselms" who was a landowner in the area.

In the 14th century, there are records of a wealthy merchant family with the surname DESELMS based in the city of Lübeck, a prominent trading center in northern Germany. This family was involved in the lucrative Baltic Sea trade and their name can be found in various commercial documents and records from that era.

During the 16th century, a notable figure with the surname DESELMS was Johann DESELMS, a Lutheran theologian and reformer who was born in 1516 in the town of Wittenberg, which was a center of the Protestant Reformation. He was a close associate of Martin Luther and played a role in the spread of Lutheran teachings in Germany.

Another historical figure with the name DESELMS was Hans DESELMS, a German artist and engraver who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was known for his intricate woodcuts and engravings, many of which depicted scenes from the Bible or classical mythology.

In the 18th century, a prominent military figure with the surname DESELMS was Friedrich Wilhelm von DESELMS, a Prussian general who served under King Frederick the Great during the Seven Years' War. He was born in 1721 and played a significant role in several key battles against the Austrian and Russian forces.

As the name DESELMS spread throughout Germany over the centuries, it also underwent various spelling variations, such as Deselm, Deselme, or Deselmb, reflecting regional dialects and scribal inconsistencies. However, the core meaning and origin of the name remained tied to its association with elm trees or elm forests.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Deselms

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

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

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

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