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

Hochstetler, 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 Hochstetler surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hochstetler in America

Hochstetler is the 5460th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hochstetler surname appeared 6,372 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Hochstetler.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hochstetler 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 Hochstetler

The surname Hochstetler originates from the German-speaking regions of Europe, specifically in the areas of present-day Germany and Switzerland. It can be traced back to the 16th century and is derived from the German word "Hochstatt," which means "high place" or "elevated town."

The earliest recorded instances of the name Hochstetler can be found in various historical documents and records from the 16th and 17th centuries in the regions of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria in Germany, as well as in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Variations of the spelling include Hochstetter, Hochstätter, and Hochstädter.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Hochstetler was Hans Hochstetler, born in 1548 in the town of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. He was a prominent merchant and landowner in the region. Another notable figure was Johann Hochstetler (1600-1672), a Protestant theologian and author from Württemberg, Germany.

In the 18th century, the Hochstetler family started to migrate to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. Jacob Hochstetler (1705-1775) was an Amish pioneer who settled in Pennsylvania in the 1730s and became one of the first Amish leaders in the American colonies.

Other notable individuals with the surname Hochstetler include:

1. Daniel Hochstetler (1785-1867), an Amish bishop and leader in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
2. Christian Hochstetler (1811-1890), a German-American painter and artist known for his landscape paintings.
3. John Hochstetler (1832-1892), a Union Army soldier during the American Civil War and recipient of the Medal of Honor.
4. Jacob Hochstetler (1851-1924), a prominent Amish farmer and landowner in Holmes County, Ohio.
5. Anna Hochstetler (1878-1956), a Swiss-American educator and philanthropist who founded the Hochstetler School in Switzerland.

The surname Hochstetler is still prevalent in various regions of Germany, Switzerland, and the United States, particularly among Amish and Mennonite communities that originated from the early German and Swiss settlers.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hochstetler

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

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

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

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