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

Ostendorf, 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 Ostendorf surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ostendorf in America

Ostendorf is the 16273rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ostendorf surname appeared 1,772 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Ostendorf.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ostendorf 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 Ostendorf

The surname Ostendorf originates from the German-speaking regions of Europe, likely arising sometime in the late medieval period around the 13th or 14th century. It is a locational name, derived from the place name Ostendorf, a small village located in the northern part of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The name Ostendorf itself is composed of two Old German words – "ost" meaning "east" and "dorf" meaning "village" or "settlement". This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a village or settlement located to the east of a larger town or landmark.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the surname Ostendorf can be found in the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court) records from the late 15th century, which document legal proceedings involving individuals with this name.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, several notable individuals bore the Ostendorf surname. These include Johannes Ostendorf (1543-1611), a German theologian and reformer, and Hans Ostendorf (1570-1627), a German composer and organist.

The 18th century saw the rise of Andreas Ostendorf (1720-1786), a German philosopher and writer, and Johann Ostendorf (1765-1832), a renowned German painter and engraver.

In the 19th century, one of the most prominent figures with the Ostendorf name was Carl Ostendorf (1821-1877), a German architect and urban planner who was instrumental in the redesign and modernization of several German cities, including Berlin and Frankfurt.

Another notable individual from this time period was Friedrich Ostendorf (1853-1912), a German industrialist and entrepreneur who founded the Ostendorf Machinery Company, which became a major manufacturer of textile machinery.

While the Ostendorf surname is most commonly found in Germany, it has also been present in other parts of Europe and in regions where German immigrants settled, such as the United States and Canada.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ostendorf

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

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

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

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