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

Karsten, 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 Karsten surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Karsten in America

Karsten is the 11919th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Karsten surname appeared 2,627 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 Karsten.

We can also compare 2010 data for Karsten 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 Karsten

The surname Karsten is of German origin, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. It is a locational name, derived from the Low German word "Karsten," which refers to a place where pine trees or fir trees grew abundantly.

The name is thought to have originated in the northern regions of Germany, particularly in areas like Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg, where pine forests were plentiful. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries, with various spellings like Karsten, Karsten, and Karsten appearing in historical records.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Henricus Karsten, a merchant from Lübeck, who was mentioned in a document dated 1292. Another notable figure was Johannes Karsten, a Protestant reformer from Rostock, who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

In the 16th century, the name Karsten appeared in the records of the city of Hamburg, where several families with this surname were documented. One prominent individual was Hinrich Karsten, a merchant and alderman who lived from 1528 to 1604.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name spread beyond northern Germany, with individuals bearing the Karsten surname found in various parts of the country. One notable example was Johann Philipp Karsten, a German chemist and mineralogist born in 1766, who made significant contributions to the study of minerals and their classification.

Another notable figure was Gustav Karsten, a German naturalist and explorer who lived from 1820 to 1900. He traveled extensively in South America and made important discoveries in the fields of botany and geology.

As the centuries progressed, the Karsten surname continued to spread across Europe and beyond, with individuals bearing this name found in countries like the Netherlands, Denmark, and even as far as the United States and Canada, where German immigrants settled.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Karsten

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

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

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

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