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

Osterman, 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 Osterman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Osterman in America

Osterman is the 9919th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Osterman surname appeared 3,256 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 Osterman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Osterman 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 Osterman

The surname Osterman is of German origin, originating in the regions of Saxony and Bavaria during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old German words "ost" meaning "east" and "mann" meaning "man," indicating that the name likely referred to someone who came from or lived in an eastern region.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Traditionum Corbeiensium, a medieval cartulary from the Benedictine abbey of Corvey in Saxony, dating back to the 9th century. This document mentions an "Ostermanni" among the list of landowners and tenants.

In the 12th century, the name Osterman appeared in the Salzburger Urskundenbuch, a collection of documents related to the Archbishopric of Salzburg in Bavaria. This suggests that the name had spread to other regions of Germany by this time.

During the 13th century, the name was recorded in the Codex Diplomaticus Brandenburgensis, a collection of historical documents from the Margraviate of Brandenburg. This indicates that the Osterman surname had also taken root in northern Germany.

One of the earliest known individuals with this surname was Johann Osterman, a merchant from Lübeck who lived in the late 14th century. Another notable figure was Matthias Osterman, a German theologian and Protestant reformer from Saxony, who lived from 1507 to 1572.

In the 16th century, the name appeared in records from the city of Augsburg, where a family of goldsmiths and jewelers bearing the Osterman surname was prominent. One member of this family, Hans Osterman (1545-1615), was a renowned goldsmith and engraver.

As the Osterman name spread beyond Germany, it also took on variations in spelling, such as Ostermann, Ostermayer, and Ostermair, reflecting regional linguistic differences.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Osterman

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

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

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

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