2000
#12,851
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,195
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.81
Rare Last name
Osterhout
A Dutch toponymic surname referring to someone from the town of Oosterhout in the Netherlands.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,240 Americans carry the last name Osterhout. That puts it at #14,637 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 153,015 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Osterhout surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.2K
1 in 153,015
Census rank
#14,637
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,953 bearers of the surname Osterhout in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14637th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Osterhout, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Osterhout
Among Census respondents with the surname Osterhout, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Osterhout bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Osterhout surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 1,765
- Two or more races4.2% · 82
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 15
- Black or African American0.5% · 10
Timeline
Historical Census data for Osterhout
Osterhout appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#13,330
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,288
+93 bearers (+4.2%)
Per 100,000 0.78
Rank movement Down 479 places
2020
#14,637
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,953
-335 bearers (-14.6%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 1,307 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #12,851 | 2,195 | 0.81 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,330 | 2,288 | 0.78 | +93 bearers (+4.2%) | Down 479 places |
| 2020 | #14,637 | 1,953 | 0.65 | -335 bearers (-14.6%) | Down 1,307 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Osterhout surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,330 | #14,637 | -9.8% |
| Count | 2,288 | 1,953 | -14.6% |
| Per 100K | 0.78 | 0.65 | -16.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Osterhout bearers went from 2,288 to 1,953 (-14.6% change). The surname moved down 1,307 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,330 to #14,637.
FAQ
Osterhout surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Osterhout?
Name Census estimates that about 2,240 living Americans carry the surname Osterhout. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 153,015 residents.
How common is Osterhout?
Osterhout ranks #14,637 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,953 people with the surname Osterhout. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,240), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.65 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Osterhout.
Has Osterhout become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Osterhout went from 2,288 recorded bearers to 1,953. That is a decrease of 335 (-14.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #13,330 to #14,637.
What does the Census say about the background of Osterhout?
Among Census respondents with the surname Osterhout, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.2%) and Hispanic (2.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Osterhout in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (1,765 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Osterhout appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.4%), Two or More Races (4.2%), Hispanic (2.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Osterhout (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Osterhout mean?
A Dutch toponymic surname referring to someone from the town of Oosterhout in the Netherlands. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Osterhout (0.65 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Osterhout?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the last name Osterhout on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.