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

Oesterreich, 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 Oesterreich surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oesterreich in America

Oesterreich is the 55619th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oesterreich surname appeared 369 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 Oesterreich.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oesterreich 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 Oesterreich

The surname Oesterreich is of German origin, deriving from the medieval German words "oster" meaning "east" and "reich" meaning "realm" or "empire". It originated as a locational name, referring to the people who hailed from the eastern regions of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly the area known as Austria.

In the 10th century, the Marchia Orientalis (Eastern March) was established as a frontier territory of the Holy Roman Empire, encompassing parts of modern-day Austria, Hungary, and Slovenia. This region became known as Ostarrichi, a variation of the word Oesterreich, and served as the basis for the name's origin.

The name Oesterreich gained prominence in the 13th century, when the Duchy of Austria emerged as a powerful entity within the Holy Roman Empire. Historical records from this period, such as the Österreichische Reimchronik (Austrian Rhyming Chronicle), mention the name in reference to the ruling Habsburg dynasty and the region's inhabitants.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Oesterreich was Johann Oesterreich, a prominent merchant and burgher of Vienna, who lived in the late 14th century. Another notable figure was Kaspar Oesterreich, a German historian and theologian born in 1516, known for his writings on the Reformation.

In the 16th century, the name gained further recognition with the rise of the Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg, which ruled over the vast territories of the Holy Roman Empire and later the Austrian Empire. Figures like Maximilian I (1459-1519), Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria, and his descendants carried the name Oesterreich as a reference to their domain.

Other notable individuals with the surname Oesterreich include Johann Baptist Oesterreich (1727-1793), a German composer and violinist, and Friedrich Oesterreich (1766-1840), a German philosopher and professor at the University of Heidelberg.

Variations of the spelling, such as Österreich and Oestreich, were also common throughout history, reflecting the regional dialects and linguistic influences of different German-speaking areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oesterreich

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

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

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

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