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

Oberson, 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 Oberson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oberson in America

Oberson is the 116829th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oberson surname appeared 149 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 Oberson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oberson 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 Oberson

The surname OBERSON originated in Switzerland and is believed to have first appeared in the early 13th century. It is derived from the Swiss-German word "Ober," meaning "upper" or "higher," and likely referred to someone who lived in an elevated or upland area.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Swiss cantonal records of Vaud, where an individual named Johannes Oberson is mentioned in a document dated 1276. This suggests that the name was already well-established in the region by that time.

In the 14th century, the name appears in various Swiss municipal records and tax rolls, including those of Bern and Zurich. For example, a Petrus Oberson is listed as a landowner in the village of Interlaken in 1342.

As the OBERSON family spread throughout Switzerland and neighboring regions, the name underwent some slight variations in spelling, such as Obermann, Obermann, and Oberhausen. These variations often reflected local dialects and scribal preferences.

One notable bearer of the OBERSON name was Hans Oberson, a Swiss mercenary who fought in the Burgundian Wars of the late 15th century. He is believed to have been born in the village of Grindelwald around 1450.

Another prominent figure was the Swiss theologian and reformer Ulrich Oberson (1487-1551), who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. He was a contemporary and colleague of Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli.

In the 17th century, the OBERSON surname appears in records from the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel, where a family of that name owned a prominent vineyard in the village of Cressier. The vineyard was known as the "Domaine Oberson" and remained in the family's possession for several generations.

One of the earliest documented instances of the OBERSON name in North America can be found in the records of the French and Indian War, where a Swiss soldier named Jacob Oberson is listed as having served in the British colonial forces in the 1750s.

Throughout the centuries, the OBERSON surname has been associated with various notable individuals, including the Swiss writer and poet Emilie Oberson (1835-1894), the French painter and sculptor Gustave Oberson (1878-1941), and the Swiss architect and designer Max Oberson (1905-1985).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oberson

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!