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

Ottmar, 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 Ottmar surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ottmar in America

Ottmar is the 66553rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ottmar surname appeared 297 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 Ottmar.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ottmar 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 Ottmar

The surname Ottmar is believed to have originated in Germany, where it first appeared in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Germanic words "otto," meaning "prosperous," and "mar," meaning "famous." The name was therefore bestowed upon those who were renowned for their wealth and status.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ottmar can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of medieval charters and documents from the region of Saxony, dating back to the 12th century. Here, the name appears as "Ottmar von Merseburg," referring to a nobleman from the town of Merseburg.

In the 13th century, an Ottmar von Sternberg was mentioned in the Regensburger Urkundenbuch, a collection of historical records from the city of Regensburg. This Ottmar was a knight and landowner in the region of Sternberg, which may have been the origin of the family name.

The Ottmar surname has also been associated with various place names throughout Germany. For example, in the 15th century, there was a village called Ottmarshausen in Bavaria, which likely derived its name from an early settler named Ottmar.

One of the most notable bearers of the Ottmar surname was Johann Ottmar Hitzfeld, a German artist and engraver who lived from 1676 to 1732. He was renowned for his intricate copperplate engravings, many of which depicted religious and mythological scenes.

Another prominent figure was Christoph Gottlieb Ottmar, a German jurist and legal scholar who lived from 1700 to 1768. He served as a professor of law at the University of Leipzig and published several influential works on legal theory and practice.

In the 19th century, Wilhelm Ottmar Rassmann (1825-1887) was a German architect and urban planner. He is best known for his work on the reconstruction of the city of Leipzig following its destruction during the Napoleonic Wars.

Karl Ottmar von Aretin (1773-1824) was a German historian and diplomat who served as the Bavarian envoy to the Holy Roman Empire. He wrote extensively on the history of Bavaria and the German states.

Finally, Ottmar Mergenthaler (1854-1899) was a German-American inventor who revolutionized the printing industry with his creation of the Linotype machine, a groundbreaking typesetting device that vastly improved the speed and efficiency of printing operations.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ottmar

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

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

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

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