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

Platte, 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 Platte surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Platte in America

Platte is the 21986th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Platte surname appeared 1,180 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 Platte.

We can also compare 2010 data for Platte 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 Platte

The surname Platte originated in Germany, with the earliest known records dating back to the 13th century. It is derived from the Middle High German word "plat," which means "broad" or "flat," and was likely used as a descriptive name for someone who lived near a broad or flat area of land.

One of the earliest known references to the name Platte can be found in the records of the city of Cologne, where a merchant named Johann Platte is mentioned in a document from 1298. The name also appears in various medieval records from other parts of Germany, such as in the town of Hildesheim, where a man named Henricus Platte is recorded in 1312.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the surname Platte became more widespread throughout Germany, with families bearing this name settling in various regions, including Bavaria, Saxony, and Westphalia. One notable person with this surname was Philipp Platte, a German composer and organist who lived from 1564 to 1632.

The name Platte also has strong ties to certain place names in Germany. For example, the town of Plattenburg in Lower Saxony is believed to have been named after a family with the surname Platte who resided there in the Middle Ages. Similarly, the village of Plattlingen in Bavaria may have derived its name from a similar source.

As the Platte family spread throughout Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, the name underwent various spelling variations, such as Platt, Plat, and Platte. One notable bearer of this name was Jean-Baptiste Platte, a French sculptor who lived from 1667 to 1733 and was renowned for his work in the Baroque style.

In the 19th century, the name Platte gained some prominence in the United States, with several individuals bearing this surname making notable contributions. One such person was Cassius Platte, an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri from 1857 to 1861. Another notable American with this surname was Johann Platte, a German-born immigrant who served as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Platte

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

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

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

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