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

Diefenderfer, 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 Diefenderfer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Diefenderfer in America

Diefenderfer is the 31068th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Diefenderfer surname appeared 747 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 Diefenderfer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Diefenderfer 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 Diefenderfer

The surname Diefenderfer has its origins in Germany, dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the German word "Dieb," meaning thief, and "Fender," which was a term used to refer to a soldier or member of a military unit. The name likely referred to someone who was a thief or someone who apprehended thieves within a military context.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the town records of Worms, Germany, in the year 1587, where a man named Hans Diefenderfer was mentioned. The name also appears in the records of the town of Heidelberg in the early 17th century, suggesting that the name was prevalent in the southwestern regions of Germany during that time.

In the late 17th century, the name Diefenderfer began to appear in the records of the German Palatinate region, which was a major source of German immigration to America during the 18th century. This suggests that some of the earliest Diefenderfers in America may have arrived as part of the Palatine migration.

One of the earliest known Diefenderfers in America was Johannes Diefenderfer, who was born in Germany in 1720 and immigrated to Pennsylvania in the mid-18th century. He settled in the area that is now known as Lebanon County and is considered one of the earliest progenitors of the Diefenderfer family in the United States.

Another notable figure with the surname was Christian Diefenderfer, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1761. He served as a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and is recorded as having participated in several major battles, including the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown.

In the 19th century, the name Diefenderfer appeared in various parts of the United States, with notable individuals including Jacob Diefenderfer (1804-1885), a prominent businessman and landowner in Ohio, and John Diefenderfer (1838-1908), a Civil War veteran and farmer from Pennsylvania.

As the Diefenderfer family spread across the United States, various spelling variations emerged, including Dieffenderfer, Dieffendeffer, and Dieffenderffer. However, the original German spelling of Diefenderfer remained the most common and widely used form of the name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Diefenderfer

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

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

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

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