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

Desmet, 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 Desmet surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Desmet in America

Desmet is the 21648th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Desmet surname appeared 1,204 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 Desmet.

We can also compare 2010 data for Desmet 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 Desmet

The surname Desmet originated in the Low Countries, specifically Belgium and the Netherlands, during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old Dutch word "des mets," which means "of the meadow" or "from the meadow." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to someone who lived near or worked on a meadow.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Desmet can be found in the Cartulaire de Saint-Bavo, a medieval manuscript from the 12th century that contains records of the Abbey of Saint Bavo in Ghent, Belgium. The name is also mentioned in various other historical documents from the region, such as the Gelderse Leenaktenboeken (Gelderland Fiefdom Records) from the 14th century.

In the 15th century, a man named Hendrik Desmet was recorded as a landowner in the town of Oudenaarde, located in the province of East Flanders, Belgium. Another notable figure was Jan Desmet, a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of Antwerp during the 16th century.

The name Desmet has also been linked to several place names in Belgium and the Netherlands, such as Desmetshoek, a hamlet in the municipality of Zedelgem, West Flanders, and Desmetstraat, a street in the city of Turnhout, Antwerp.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname outside of the Low Countries was in England, where a man named John Desmet was listed in the Chancery Rolls of 1386, which were records kept by the Court of Chancery.

Over the centuries, the surname Desmet has been spelled in various ways, including De Smet, De Smit, De Smedt, and Desmeth, among others. These variations likely arose due to regional differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions.

Some notable individuals with the surname Desmet throughout history include:

1. Pierre-Joseph Desmet (1801-1873), a Belgian Catholic priest and missionary who worked among Native American tribes in the western United States.
2. Jean-Baptiste Desmet (1768-1832), a Flemish painter known for his landscapes and genre scenes.
3. Florent Desmet (1846-1919), a Belgian engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded the La Brugeoise et Nicaise & Delcuve shipbuilding company.
4. Léon Desmet (1803-1889), a Belgian sculptor and teacher at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
5. Eugène Desmet (1833-1919), a Belgian architect who designed numerous buildings in Brussels and other cities in Belgium.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Desmet

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

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

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

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