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

Roorda, 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 Roorda surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Roorda in America

Roorda is the 31482nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Roorda surname appeared 735 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 Roorda.

We can also compare 2010 data for Roorda 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 Roorda

The surname Roorda has its origins in the Netherlands, where it can be traced back to the 16th century. It is a locational surname derived from the Dutch place name Roorda, which is located in the province of Friesland. The name is believed to have originated from the Old Frisian word "rord," meaning "reeds" or "rushes," suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name may have lived near an area abundant with these plants.

One of the earliest documented references to the Roorda surname can be found in the "Oudfriese Naamlijst" (Old Frisian Name List), a compilation of names from the Frisian region dating back to the 16th century. This record mentions a family with the surname Roorda residing in the village of Roorda itself.

In the 17th century, the name appears in various records and documents from the Friesland region. For instance, a man named Douwe Roorda is mentioned in the "Fryske Stúdzje" (Frisian Studies) from 1678, where he is identified as a farmer and landowner in the town of Franeker.

The 18th century saw the name Roorda spread to other parts of the Netherlands and beyond. One notable bearer of the name from this period was Thijsse Roorda (1701-1778), a Dutch merchant and shipowner who traded extensively with the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia).

In the 19th century, the Roorda family continued to produce several notable individuals. Pieter Roorda van Eysinga (1796-1855) was a Dutch philologist and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of Sanskrit and other Asian languages. Another prominent figure was Taco Roorda (1801-1874), a Dutch-born American lawyer and politician who served as a judge in New York.

The 20th century brought forth several more individuals with the Roorda surname, including Hendrik Roorda (1870-1925), a Dutch architect responsible for designing several notable buildings in Amsterdam, and Siep Roorda (1925-2008), a Dutch footballer who played as a striker for various clubs in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Throughout its history, the Roorda surname has maintained a strong presence in the Netherlands and has also been carried by individuals who emigrated to other parts of the world, particularly North America and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Roorda

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

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

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

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