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

Mast, 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 Mast surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mast in America

Mast is the 2288th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mast surname appeared 15,932 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Mast.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mast 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 Mast

The surname Mast is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "mast," which means "mast" or "tree trunk." This name likely originated as an occupational surname for a person who worked with masts, perhaps a mast maker or a sailor.

In the early 14th century, the name Mast was recorded in the town of Esslingen, near Stuttgart, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The earliest known bearer of the name was Hans Mast, a carpenter who lived in Esslingen around 1320.

The surname Mast can also be traced back to the town of Mastholte, located in the Münsterland region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name Mastholte is derived from the Old Saxon words "mast" (mast or tree trunk) and "holte" (forest), suggesting that the name may have originated as a place name for a settlement near a mast forest.

One of the earliest known references to the name Mast can be found in the Würzburg Chronicle, a medieval German chronicle compiled in the late 13th century. The chronicle mentions a knight named Ritter Mast, who participated in a tournament in Würzburg in 1285.

Another notable bearer of the surname Mast was Johann Mast (1592-1636), a German composer and organist who served as the Kapellmeister at the court of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg.

In the 17th century, the name Mast appeared in the historical records of the Palatinate region of Germany. Johann Mast (1629-1698), a Lutheran pastor from Zweibrücken, was a prominent figure in the religious disputes of the time.

The surname Mast also has a long history in the Netherlands, where it is often spelled as "Mast" or "Maast." One of the earliest known bearers of the name in the Netherlands was Aert Mast, a merchant who lived in Amsterdam in the early 16th century.

In the 19th century, the name Mast was borne by several notable individuals, including August Ferdinand Mast (1807-1865), a German painter and lithographer, and Theodor Mast (1833-1898), a German theologian and author.

As the surname Mast spread across Europe and eventually to other parts of the world, it continued to be associated with various occupations and places, reflecting the diverse origins and meanings of this distinctive name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mast

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

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

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

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