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

Rustad, 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 Rustad surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rustad in America

Rustad is the 17455th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rustad surname appeared 1,615 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Rustad.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rustad 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 Rustad

The surname Rustad originated in Norway, dating back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old Norse words "rūstr" meaning "reddish-brown" and "staðr" meaning "place" or "farm." This suggests the name likely referred to someone who lived or owned a farm with reddish-brown soil or a distinctive red-brown building.

In medieval Norway, the surname would have initially been used to identify someone's place of residence or origin. Early records show variations like "Rustadhr" and "Rustadr" appearing in the 13th century Icelandic Sagas and Norwegian land registries.

One of the earliest documented references to the Rustad name can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian medieval documents. In a 1325 land deed, a man named Sigurd Rustad is mentioned as a witness to a property transfer.

By the 16th century, the spelling had shifted closer to the modern form, with examples such as Olav Rustadsen appearing in church records from Trondheim in 1568. The suffix "-sen" indicated he was the son of someone from the Rustad farm or area.

Notable historical figures with this surname include the 17th-century Norwegian priest and poet Peder Rustad (1624-1699), known for his religious hymns and verses. In the 19th century, Hans Christian Rustad (1826-1907) was a prominent Norwegian industrialist and shipowner from Tønsberg.

Other examples span various fields, such as the Norwegian explorer and anthropologist Knut Rustad (1888-1957), who studied indigenous cultures in Siberia and Alaska. The 20th century also saw Ingvald Rustad (1913-1998), a respected Norwegian judge and legal scholar.

The surname Rustad maintains strong ties to its Norwegian roots, though it has spread to other parts of Scandinavia and beyond through migration over the centuries. Its origins hearken back to the rural landscapes and farmsteads of medieval Norway.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rustad

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

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

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

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