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

Obermiller, 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 Obermiller surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Obermiller in America

Obermiller is the 29422nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Obermiller surname appeared 803 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 Obermiller.

We can also compare 2010 data for Obermiller 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 Obermiller

The surname Obermiller originated in the German-speaking regions of Europe, likely in the late Middle Ages or early modern period. It is a compound name derived from the German words "ober" meaning "upper" or "superior," and "müller" meaning "miller." This suggests that the name was likely given to someone who lived near or worked at an upper or superior mill.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 16th century records of the city of Augsburg, where a certain Hans Obermiller is mentioned as a citizen in 1543. In the following century, the name appears in various church records and tax registers across southern Germany and parts of present-day Austria.

The name Obermiller is also found in several historical documents from the 18th and 19th centuries. For example, Johann Obermiller (1732-1809) was a respected clock maker from the town of Schwabach in Bavaria. Another notable figure was Karl Obermiller (1841-1915), a German-born industrialist who founded a successful textile manufacturing company in Moscow, Russia.

In the realm of academia, one prominent individual with this surname was Eugene Obermiller (1901-1935), a Russian-born scholar and linguist who specialized in the study of Tibetan Buddhism. His translations of ancient Tibetan texts and writings on Buddhist philosophy were highly influential in the early 20th century.

Another noteworthy figure was Max Obermiller (1888-1935), a German-American artist and illustrator best known for his work in children's literature. His illustrations graced the pages of numerous books, including several editions of the beloved children's classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum.

While the name Obermiller is most commonly associated with Germany and parts of Central Europe, it has also found its way to other regions through migration and diaspora communities. For instance, Johann Obermiller (1807-1888) was a German immigrant to the United States who settled in Ohio and became a prominent farmer and landowner in the mid-19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Obermiller

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

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

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

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