Obad last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Obad

An Anglicized form of the Polish surname Obacz meaning "one who sees" or "observer."

Obad, 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 Obad surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Obad in America

Obad is the 75069th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Obad surname appeared 257 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 Obad.

We can also compare 2010 data for Obad 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 75069 118236 -44.66%
Count 257 136 61.58%
Proportion per 100k 0.09 0.05 57.14%

The history of the last name Obad

The surname OBAD originated in Croatia, where it first appeared in the 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Croatian word "obad," which means "swarm" or "hive," likely referring to a person who was involved in beekeeping or lived near a beehive.

The name OBAD can be traced back to the Dalmatian region of Croatia, particularly the area around the city of Split. In the 16th and 17th centuries, several historical records mention individuals with this surname in this region.

One of the earliest documented references to the name OBAD comes from a land registry document from the town of Trogir, dated 1587. It lists a certain Ivan Obad as a landowner in the area.

Another notable early mention of the name OBAD is found in the baptismal records of the Church of St. Dominic in Split, where a child named Marko Obad was baptized in 1612.

In the 18th century, the name OBAD began to spread beyond the Dalmatian region. Antun Obad (1734-1804), a renowned Croatian artist and sculptor, was born in the town of Sinj and achieved great success in creating religious art for churches throughout Croatia and Italy.

Another notable bearer of the OBAD surname was Petar Obad (1811-1888), a Croatian politician and writer from the island of Hvar. He played a significant role in the Croatian National Revival movement of the 19th century, advocating for the preservation of Croatian language and culture.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the name OBAD was also found in other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, likely due to migration. Jakov Obad (1856-1932), a Croatian-born engineer, made significant contributions to the construction of railroads and bridges in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Matija Obad (1882-1957), a Croatian-born scientist and inventor, is also worth mentioning. He was known for his work in the field of wireless communication and held several patents related to radio technology.

While the surname OBAD is predominantly found in Croatia and among Croatian diaspora communities, it has also been documented in other parts of the world, likely due to migration patterns in more recent centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Obad

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

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 Obad was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 78.99% 203
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 2.72% 7
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 12.06% 31
Hispanic Origin 5.06% 13

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 Obad has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 78.99% 79.41% -0.53%
Black (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 2.72% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Two or More Races 12.06% 17.65% -37.63%
Hispanic 5.06% (S)% (S)%

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

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

Reference this page

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"Obad last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/obad-surname-popularity/.

"Obad last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/obad-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Obad last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/obad-surname-popularity/.

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