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

Sandman, 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 Sandman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sandman in America

Sandman is the 15166th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sandman surname appeared 1,943 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 Sandman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sandman 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 Sandman

The surname Sandman originates from Germany, where it first appeared in the 13th century. It is derived from the German words "Sand" meaning sand and "Mann" meaning man, likely referring to someone who worked with sand or lived near a sandy area.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sandman can be found in the town records of Nuremberg, Germany, dated 1295, where a merchant named Hans Sandman is mentioned. The name also appears in the tax rolls of the city of Hamburg in 1412, listing a baker named Peter Sandman.

During the Middle Ages, the Sandman surname was relatively common in the northern German states, particularly in the regions around the cities of Bremen and Lübeck. Some variations of the spelling included Sandemann and Sandtmann.

In the 16th century, a notable bearer of the name was Johann Sandman (1493-1556), a German theologian and reformer who worked alongside Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation. Another prominent figure was Hans Sandman (1550-1612), a merchant and landowner from the town of Rostock.

As the Sandman name spread across Europe, it also found its way to England, where it was anglicized to Sandman or Sandeman. One of the earliest English records of the name dates back to 1597, when a William Sandman is listed in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.

Other notable individuals with the Sandman surname include Johann Sandman (1673-1738), a German composer and organist who served at the court of the Elector of Saxony, and Friedrich Sandman (1808-1893), a German philosopher and writer who was a prominent figure in the German Romantic movement.

In the 19th century, the Sandman name gained further recognition with the publication of the famous short story "Der Sandmann" by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816, which introduced the mythical figure of the Sandman, who brings good dreams to children.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sandman

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

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

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

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