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

Osher, 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 Osher surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Osher in America

Osher is the 50362nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Osher surname appeared 415 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 Osher.

We can also compare 2010 data for Osher 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 Osher

The surname Osher is believed to have originated in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland and Russia, during the late 18th or early 19th century. It is thought to be derived from the Hebrew name "Hosher," which means "upright" or "honest." This name was likely adopted as a descriptive surname, reflecting the character or occupation of an early bearer.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Osher surname can be found in the Polish State Archives, where a man named Moshe Osher is mentioned in a document from the city of Krakow in the early 1800s. It is possible that this individual was a rabbi or a respected community leader, given the meaning of the name.

In the late 19th century, many Eastern European Jews emigrated to the United States, and some families with the Osher surname likely made their way to America during this period. One notable American with this surname was Morris Osher, a businessman and philanthropist from Portland, Maine, who lived from 1890 to 1972.

Another prominent individual with the Osher surname was Rabbi Yitzchak Osher, a renowned scholar and author from the 19th century who wrote several influential works on Jewish law and philosophy. He was born in Lithuania in 1823 and passed away in Jerusalem in 1903.

In the world of entertainment, there was Luba Osher, a Russian-born actress and singer who performed in Yiddish theater in the early 20th century. She was born in 1881 in what is now Belarus and had a successful career on stage until her death in New York City in 1956.

The Osher surname has also been associated with academic pursuits. For example, David Osher was a respected mathematician and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who made significant contributions to the field of partial differential equations. He was born in 1918 in Poland and passed away in 2003.

While the Osher surname may not be as common as some other Jewish surnames, it has a rich history and has been borne by notable individuals across various fields throughout the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Osher

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

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

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

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