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

Pastorius, 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 Pastorius surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pastorius in America

Pastorius is the 33856th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pastorius surname appeared 672 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 Pastorius.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pastorius 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 Pastorius

The surname Pastorius is of German origin, tracing its roots back to the early modern period in the 16th century. It is believed to have originated from the German word "Pastor," meaning "shepherd" or "minister," suggesting that early bearers of this name were likely associated with pastoral or clerical professions.

One of the earliest known references to the surname Pastorius can be found in historical records from the city of Sommerhausen in the Franconian region of Germany. The name appears in various spellings, such as Pastorius, Pastoreus, and Pastoriusz, reflecting the linguistic variations common during that time.

In the 17th century, a prominent figure bearing the name Pastorius was Francis Daniel Pastorius, a German-American settler and founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Born in 1651 in Sommerhausen, he immigrated to America in 1683 and played a significant role in establishing the first permanent German settlement in the British colonies.

Another notable individual with the surname Pastorius was Johann Winckler Pastorius, a German theologian and philosopher who lived from 1603 to 1681. He was known for his writings on theology and ethics, contributing to the intellectual discourse of his time.

During the 18th century, the Pastorius surname continued to appear in various regions of Germany, with some bearers migrating to other parts of Europe and beyond. One such individual was Johann Baptist Pastorius, a German-Austrian composer and organist born in 1752 in Bruck an der Leitha, Austria.

In the 19th century, the name Pastorius gained recognition through the contributions of Franz Pastorius, a German philologist and writer born in 1824 in Lübeck, Germany. He is renowned for his work in compiling the first comprehensive dictionary of the Low German language, known as the "Wörterbuch der niederdeutschen Sprache."

As the Pastorius family dispersed across different regions, variations in spelling and pronunciation occurred, giving rise to variations such as Pastorius, Pastoriusz, and Pastoor. However, the core meaning and historical significance of the name remained rooted in its pastoral and clerical origins.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pastorius

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

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

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

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