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

Mulder, 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 Mulder surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mulder in America

Mulder is the 4822nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mulder surname appeared 7,317 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 Mulder.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mulder 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 Mulder

The surname Mulder originates from the Netherlands, where it first emerged in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Dutch word "molder," which means a miller or someone who operates a mill for grinding grain. The name is believed to have been an occupational surname initially given to millers or those associated with the milling trade.

In the early 13th century, the name appeared in various Dutch records and documents, often with slight variations in spelling, such as "Molder," "Moulder," or "Muldere." One of the earliest known references to the name is found in the Utrecht Archives, where a certain "Gherardus Muldere" is mentioned in a document dated 1276.

The Mulder surname can also be traced back to several place names in the Netherlands, such as Mulder, a small village in the province of Overijssel, and Mulderij, a hamlet in the province of Gelderland. These place names likely derived from the same occupational origin as the surname, indicating a connection to mills or milling activities in those areas.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the Mulder surname. One of the earliest recorded was Gerrit Mulder (c. 1515-1585), a Dutch cartographer and navigator who accompanied the Spanish expeditions to the Americas in the 16th century. Later, in the 17th century, Jan Mulder (1619-1678) was a renowned Dutch mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the field of optics.

In the 19th century, Gerardus Johannes Mulder (1802-1880), a Dutch chemist and professor at Utrecht University, gained recognition for his work on proteins and organic chemistry. He is considered one of the pioneers in the study of biochemistry.

Another notable figure was Hendrik Mulder (1876-1957), a Dutch politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1945 to 1946, leading the country during the post-World War II reconstruction period.

More recently, the name Mulder gained international recognition through the fictional character Fox Mulder, played by actor David Duchovny in the popular television series "The X-Files," which aired from 1993 to 2018.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mulder

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

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

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

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