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

Ottenwalder, 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 Ottenwalder surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ottenwalder in America

Ottenwalder is the 107134th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ottenwalder surname appeared 166 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 Ottenwalder.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ottenwalder 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 Ottenwalder

The surname Ottenwalder is of German origin and can be traced back to the late Middle Ages, specifically to the region of Bavaria in southern Germany. It is a locational surname, derived from a place name that likely referred to a settlement or a specific location where the early bearers of the name resided.

One potential explanation for the origin of the name is that it is derived from the German words "Otten" and "Wald," meaning "Otto's forest" or "Otto's wooded area." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a wooded area belonging to or associated with an individual named Otto.

Another possible interpretation is that the name is a combination of the German words "Ott" and "Wald," where "Ott" could be a shortened form of a personal name like Otto or Othmar, and "Wald" means "forest" or "wooded area." In this case, the name would have referred to a person living in or near a forested area.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Ottenwalder can be found in historical documents from the 15th and 16th centuries in various parts of Bavaria. One notable example is Johannes Ottenwalder, who was mentioned in a church record from the city of Nuremberg in 1492.

In the 17th century, the name appeared in records related to the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a well-preserved medieval town in Bavaria. Hans Ottenwalder, born in 1615, was a prominent citizen and merchant in Rothenburg during this period.

As the surname spread beyond Bavaria, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Ottenwalter, Ottenwaldter, and Ottenwalder. One individual of note was Friedrich Ottenwalder, a German-born painter and artist who lived in the late 18th century (1742-1811) and is known for his landscape paintings and etchings.

Another notable figure was Johann Georg Ottenwalder (1808-1891), a German-American brewer and entrepreneur who founded the Ottenwalder Brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the mid-19th century. His brewery played a significant role in the growth of the city's brewing industry during that time.

In the 20th century, the name Ottenwalder gained recognition in the field of literature with the Austrian writer and playwright Theodor Ottenwalder (1912-2001), who was known for his satirical works and critiques of Austrian society.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ottenwalder

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!