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

Osterberg, 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 Osterberg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Osterberg in America

Osterberg is the 18218th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Osterberg surname appeared 1,527 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 Osterberg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Osterberg 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 Osterberg

The surname Osterberg originates from Sweden, with its roots tracing back to the 16th century. It is derived from the Swedish words "öster" meaning "east" and "berg" meaning "mountain" or "hill," suggesting that the name likely referred to a person or family residing in an eastern mountainous region.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Osterberg can be found in the Swedish church records from the late 16th century, where it was initially spelled as "Österberg." This spelling variation highlights the influence of local dialects and regional variations in the name's evolution.

Historical records indicate that the Osterberg name was particularly prevalent in the regions of Östergötland and Småland, located in southern Sweden. These areas were known for their rugged landscapes and eastern-facing mountain ranges, which aligns with the name's geographical connotation.

Notably, the Osterberg surname appears in the Swedish Census Records of 1890, where several families bearing this name were documented in various parts of the country. Among them was Anders Osterberg (1827-1898), a prominent Swedish businessman and industrialist who founded the Osterberg Tobacco Company.

In the realm of literature, the name Osterberg gained recognition through the works of Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg (1898-1973), who wrote the acclaimed novels "The Emigrants" and "The Settlers." Although Moberg himself did not bear the surname, his vivid depictions of Swedish emigrants' experiences in the 19th century helped shed light on the historical context surrounding names like Osterberg.

Another notable figure with the Osterberg surname was Ragnar Osterberg (1917-2008), a Swedish diplomat and politician who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden from 1983 to 1985. His contributions to international relations and diplomacy brought recognition to the Osterberg name on a global scale.

In the United States, the Osterberg surname can be traced back to Swedish immigrants who arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Nils Osterberg (1848-1922), a Swedish-American farmer and settler who established a homestead in Minnesota in the late 1800s.

Additionally, the Osterberg name gained prominence in the field of academia through individuals like Katarina Osterberg (1971-present), a Swedish professor of history at Uppsala University, and David Osterberg (1953-present), an American economist and environmental policy researcher at the University of Iowa.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Osterberg

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

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

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

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