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

Oltman, 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 Oltman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oltman in America

Oltman is the 19456th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oltman surname appeared 1,389 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 Oltman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oltman 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 Oltman

The surname Oltman originated in Germany, with its roots traced back to the 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old German words "alt" meaning "old" and "mann" meaning "man," suggesting it was initially a descriptive nickname for an elderly person.

In the early records, the name appeared in various spellings such as Oldeman, Oldmann, and Oltmann, reflecting the regional dialects and phonetic variations. One of the earliest documented instances is found in the municipal archives of the city of Lübeck, where a certain Hinrich Oldeman is mentioned in 1387.

During the Middle Ages, the Oltman name was predominantly concentrated in the northern regions of Germany, particularly in the states of Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. It is believed that some bearers of this surname may have been associated with the Hanseatic League, a powerful trading confederation that dominated maritime commerce in Northern Europe during that period.

Notable individuals with the Oltman surname include Johann Oltman (1550-1623), a German Protestant theologian and author of several religious treatises, and Gerhard Oltman (1698-1762), a renowned clockmaker from the city of Hamburg whose intricate timepieces were highly sought after by affluent patrons.

In the 17th century, the Oltman name appeared in the Kirchenbücher (church records) of several villages in the Duchy of Mecklenburg, indicating its presence in the rural areas of northern Germany. One such record mentions a Hans Oltman, a farmer born in 1632 in the village of Güstrow.

Another significant figure bearing this surname was Carl Oltman (1789-1867), a German-American pioneer and landowner who immigrated to the United States in the early 19th century and acquired vast tracts of land in what is now the state of Illinois.

As the Oltman family spread across Germany and beyond, the name underwent further variations, with spellings such as Oltmann, Ohlmann, and Oeltmann appearing in different regions and historical documents.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oltman

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

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

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

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