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

Osterhout, 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 Osterhout surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Osterhout in America

Osterhout is the 13330th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Osterhout surname appeared 2,288 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 Osterhout.

We can also compare 2010 data for Osterhout 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 Osterhout

The surname Osterhout has its origins in the Netherlands, specifically in the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg. It dates back to the 16th century and is believed to be derived from the Dutch words "ooster" (meaning "east") and "hout" (meaning "wood" or "forest"). This suggests that the name may have referred to someone living in or near an eastern forest or wooded area.

One of the earliest known references to the Osterhout name can be found in the records of the village of Oud-Vossemeer in North Brabant, where a family with this surname is mentioned in the late 1500s. The name was also present in the nearby town of Ossendrecht, which had a similar spelling variation, "Oosterhout".

In the 17th century, members of the Osterhout family began emigrating to the Dutch colonies in North America, particularly to the areas that would later become New York and New Jersey. One of the earliest recorded Osterhouts in the New World was Pieter Jansen Osterhout, who arrived in New Netherland (present-day New York) in the 1650s.

A notable figure in the early history of the Osterhout name was Hendrick Hendricksen Osterhout (1631-1711), a Dutch immigrant who settled in what is now Ulster County, New York. He was one of the founders of the town of Hurley and served as a magistrate and military officer during the colonial period.

Another prominent Osterhout was Jacobus Osterhout (1718-1798), a farmer and militiaman who fought in the American Revolutionary War. He was part of the Ulster County militia and participated in the Battle of Minisink in 1779, which was a significant engagement in the frontier region of New York.

In the 19th century, the Osterhout name spread further across the United States as descendants of the early Dutch settlers moved westward. One notable figure from this period was Ezra Osterhout (1813-1900), a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War who later became a prominent businessman and banker in Kansas.

Throughout its history, the Osterhout surname has also been associated with various place names and geographic locations. For example, the town of Osterhout in Belgium is derived from a similar Dutch name, and there is an Osterhout Creek in Ulster County, New York, named after the early Dutch settlers in the area.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Osterhout

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

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

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

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