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

Or, 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 Or surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Or in America

Or is the 35671st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Or surname appeared 630 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 Or.

We can also compare 2010 data for Or 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 Or

The surname Or is believed to have originated in Germany in the early Middle Ages, around the 9th or 10th century. It is thought to be derived from the Old German word "or," which means "beginning" or "origin." This suggests that the name may have initially been given to someone who lived near the source of a river or at the start of a particular settlement.

One of the earliest known references to the name Or can be found in the Codex Traditionum Corbeiensium, a medieval manuscript from the Corvey Abbey in Westphalia, Germany, dating back to the 9th century. This document mentions an individual named Oro, which is likely an early variation of the surname.

In the 11th century, the name appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book contains entries for several individuals with the surname Or, indicating that the name had spread to England by that time.

One notable figure with the surname Or was Johann Or, a German theologian and reformer who lived from 1484 to 1565. He played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation and was a close associate of Martin Luther.

Another prominent individual was Pieter Or, a Dutch painter active in the early 17th century, known for his landscape and genre paintings. His works can be found in various museums across Europe.

In the 18th century, Johann Baptist Or (1702-1779) was a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Munich and other Bavarian cities.

The name Or has also been associated with various place names throughout history. For example, the village of Orby in Lincolnshire, England, was once known as Orebi, which may be related to the surname.

While the surname Or is not as common as some others, it has a rich history and can be traced back to its origins in medieval Germany. Over the centuries, individuals bearing this name have contributed to various fields, including religion, art, and architecture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Or

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

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

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

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