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

Diederich, 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 Diederich surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Diederich in America

Diederich is the 13166th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Diederich surname appeared 2,322 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 Diederich.

We can also compare 2010 data for Diederich 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 Diederich

The surname DIEDERICH has its roots in Germany, where it originated in the early medieval period. It is derived from the Germanic personal name Theodoric or Dietrich, which is composed of the elements "theud" meaning "people" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "powerful". This name was popular among the Frankish and Germanic nobility during the Migration Period and the early Middle Ages.

The earliest recorded instances of the name DIEDERICH can be traced back to the 8th and 9th centuries in various Germanic regions, such as the Rhineland and Franconia. It was often spelled with variations like Ditrich, Diterich, or Diedrich, reflecting regional dialects and scribal conventions of the time.

One notable historical reference to the name DIEDERICH is found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval charters and documents from the Rhineland region. In a charter dated 888 AD, a nobleman named Diedrich von Worms is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction.

As the name DIEDERICH spread throughout German-speaking regions, it became associated with various place names, such as Diederichshagen, Diederichshafen, and Diederichsweiler. These place names likely originated from individuals bearing the surname who established settlements or held land in those areas.

Among the earliest known individuals with the surname DIEDERICH was Johann Diederich, a merchant and guild master in the city of Nuremberg, born around 1420. Another notable figure was Caspar Diederich, a Protestant reformer and theologian from Strasbourg, who lived from 1508 to 1586.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the DIEDERICH surname gained prominence through several notable figures, including:

1. Heinrich Diederich (1533-1618), a German composer and organist from Nuremberg.
2. Philipp Diederich (1564-1635), a German mathematician and astronomer from Giessen.
3. Johann Diederich (1576-1642), a German jurist and legal scholar from Frankfurt.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the DIEDERICH surname continued to be found in various parts of Germany, as well as in German-speaking communities in neighboring regions. Notable individuals from this period include:

1. Johann Friedrich Diederich (1720-1789), a German theologian and author from Saxony.
2. Christian Wilhelm Diederich (1789-1859), a German painter and engraver from Hamburg.

Throughout its history, the surname DIEDERICH has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including scholars, artists, merchants, and noblemen. While its origins can be traced back to the early medieval period in Germany, the name has since spread and been adopted by families across different regions and cultures.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Diederich

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

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!