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

Seltzer, 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 Seltzer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Seltzer in America

Seltzer is the 7856th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Seltzer surname appeared 4,213 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 Seltzer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Seltzer 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 Seltzer

The surname Seltzer is of German origin, deriving from the German word "Selters", which refers to the town of Selters in the Rhine Valley region of Germany. The name is believed to have originated in the late 16th or early 17th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Seltzer can be found in the Grimm's Deutsches Wörterbuch, a historical dictionary of the German language, which mentions the surname in its entries from the 17th century. This suggests that the name was already in use by that time.

The town of Selters was known for its mineral springs, and it is likely that the surname Seltzer was initially given to individuals who either lived in or came from that area. The name may have also been used to identify those who were involved in the production or distribution of mineral water from Selters.

In the 18th century, the name Seltzer began to appear in various records and documents across Germany. One notable individual was Johann Seltzer, a merchant and businessman from Frankfurt, who was born in 1723 and died in 1791.

As the name spread beyond Germany, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Selzer, Selzer, and Seltzer. In the 19th century, the Seltzer surname can be found in records from other European countries, including Austria, Switzerland, and France.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Seltzer surname in the United States dates back to the early 19th century. In 1820, a man named Jacob Seltzer immigrated to Pennsylvania from Germany. Another notable figure was Charles Seltzer, an American author and screenwriter who was born in 1868 and died in 1937.

Other individuals who bore the Seltzer surname throughout history include:

1. Heinrich Seltzer, a German painter and engraver from the 16th century.
2. Justus Seltzer, a German theologian and author who lived in the 17th century.
3. Anna Maria Seltzer, a German writer and poet from the 18th century.
4. Otto Seltzer, a German-American businessman and philanthropist who lived from 1862 to 1934.
5. Walter Seltzer, an American film producer and director active in the early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Seltzer

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

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

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

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