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

Ostroff, 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 Ostroff surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ostroff in America

Ostroff is the 27204th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ostroff surname appeared 889 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Ostroff.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ostroff 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 Ostroff

The surname OSTROFF originated in the Russian Empire during the late 18th century. It is derived from the Russian word "ostrov," which means "island." The name likely referred to someone who lived on an island or came from an area with a prominent island.

OSTROFF is a variant spelling of the more common Russian surname Ostrov. It is believed that the name first appeared in records from the region around St. Petersburg, which was founded in 1703 and has several islands within its boundaries.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the OSTROFF surname can be found in a census record from the city of Novgorod in 1789, which lists a merchant named Ivan Ostroff. Another early reference comes from the 1812 military records of the Russian Empire, where a Lieutenant Pyotr Ostroff is mentioned as serving in the Imperial Russian Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

In the 19th century, the OSTROFF surname began to spread beyond Russia as members of the family emigrated to other parts of Europe and North America. Notable individuals with this surname include:

1. Aleksander Ostroff (1823-1888), a Russian artist known for his landscape paintings of the Caucasus region.
2. Mikhail Ostroff (1845-1912), a prominent architect in St. Petersburg who designed several churches and public buildings.
3. Natalia Ostroff (1879-1942), a Russian ballerina who performed with the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.
4. Vasily Ostroff (1890-1937), a Soviet military officer who served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.
5. Aleksandr Ostroff (1902-1982), a Russian-born American chess grandmaster and author of several books on chess strategy.

While the OSTROFF surname has its roots in Russia, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly due to emigration during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ostroff

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

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

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

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