2000
#128,797
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 122
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Dewester
A toponymic surname referring to someone from the western region.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Dewester. That puts it at #153,590 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,880,289 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Dewester surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
119
1 in 2,880,289
Census rank
#153,590
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
104
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 104 bearers of the surname Dewester in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 153590th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Dewester, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Dewester
The surname DEWESTER originated in the Low Countries, which includes modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It likely emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century. The name is derived from the Dutch words "de" meaning "the" and "wester" meaning "westerner" or "from the west".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in a 1387 document from the town of Ghent, which mentions a "Jan de Wester". This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who had relocated from the western part of the Low Countries or from further west in Europe.
In the 15th century, a variant spelling "de Westre" appears in records from the city of Bruges. This may indicate that the name had spread to different regions and undergone slight modifications in spelling over time.
During the 16th century, the DEWESTER name is found in various records from the Dutch provinces of Holland and Zeeland. A notable bearer from this period was Pieter DEWESTER, a merchant and ship owner from Rotterdam who was born around 1520 and traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.
In the 17th century, the name appears to have migrated to other parts of Europe as well. Records show a Johannes DEWESTER, born in 1643 in the German city of Cologne, whose family had likely relocated from the Low Countries.
As the colonial era began, some individuals with the DEWESTER surname ventured to the New World. One example is Willem DEWESTER, who was born in Amsterdam in 1682 and later settled in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) in the early 1700s.
Other notable bearers of the DEWESTER name throughout history include:
1. Adriaan DEWESTER (1755-1829), a Dutch painter known for his landscape and seascape works.
2. Matthias DEWESTER (1836-1901), a Belgian architect who designed several notable buildings in Brussels and Antwerp.
3. Johanna DEWESTER (1875-1952), a Dutch feminist and suffragette who advocated for women's rights and education.
4. Hendrik DEWESTER (1901-1978), a Dutch Olympic swimmer who won a silver medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
5. Yvonne DEWESTER (born 1940), a Belgian author and poet who has published numerous collections of poetry and novels.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dewester
Among Census respondents with the surname Dewester, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Dewester bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Dewester surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 94
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 6
- Two or more races2.9% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Dewester
Dewester appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#145,220
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 114
-8 bearers (-6.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,423 places
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
-10 bearers (-8.8%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 8,370 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #128,797 | 122 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #145,220 | 114 | 0.04 | -8 bearers (-6.6%) | Down 16,423 places |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | -10 bearers (-8.8%) | Down 8,370 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Dewester surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #145,220 | #153,590 | -5.8% |
| Count | 114 | 104 | -8.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Dewester bearers went from 114 to 104 (-8.8% change). The surname moved down 8,370 positions in the national ranking, going from #145,220 to #153,590.
FAQ
Dewester surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Dewester?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Dewester. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Dewester?
Dewester ranks #153,590 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 104 people with the surname Dewester. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (119), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Dewester.
Has Dewester become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Dewester went from 114 recorded bearers to 104. That is a decrease of 10 (-8.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #145,220 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Dewester?
Among Census respondents with the surname Dewester, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Dewester in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (94 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Dewester appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Hispanic (5.8%), Two or More Races (2.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Dewester (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Dewester mean?
A toponymic surname referring to someone from the western region. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Dewester (0.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Dewester?
See how many people have the surname Dewester on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.