Unterman last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Unterman

A German-language occupational surname referring to someone working underground or in a mine.

Unterman, 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 Unterman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Unterman in America

Unterman is the 121590th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Unterman surname appeared 142 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 Unterman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Unterman 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 121590 99214 20.27%
Count 142 169 -17.36%
Proportion per 100k 0.05 0.06 -18.18%

The history of the last name Unterman

The surname Unterman has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the late 13th century. The name likely derives from the Middle High German words "unter" meaning "under" and "mann" meaning "man," suggesting it may have originally referred to someone who lived beneath or under something, perhaps a hill or other geographical feature.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in a 1293 document from the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria, which mentions a certain Heinrich Unterman. This suggests the name was already well-established in that region by the late medieval period.

In the 16th century, the Unterman name can be found in various records from the Palatinate region of southwestern Germany. A notable figure from this time was Hans Unterman (c. 1500-1572), a prominent merchant and alderman in the city of Heidelberg.

As the centuries passed, the name spread to other parts of Germany and Europe. In the 1700s, a family by the name of Unterman settled in the Alsace region of modern-day France, where they became respected vintners and winemakers.

One of the most famous individuals to bear the Unterman surname was the 19th century German poet and philosopher Friedrich Unterman (1822-1893). His works explored themes of nature, spirituality, and the human condition.

Other noteworthy individuals with this surname include the 20th century German-American architect Walter Unterman (1908-1997), who designed several iconic buildings in New York City, and the British novelist Iris Unterman (1933-2021), who wrote over a dozen acclaimed works of historical fiction.

While the Unterman name has its deepest roots in Germany, it has since spread to many other countries and cultures around the world, carried by generations of emigrants and travelers seeking new opportunities and horizons.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Unterman

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

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 Unterman was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 97.89% 139
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.00% 0
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

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 Unterman has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 97.89% 96.45% 1.48%
Black 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.00% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic (S)% (S)% (S)%

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

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

Reference this page

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If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Unterman last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/unterman-surname-popularity/.

"Unterman last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/unterman-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 December, 2024

Unterman last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/unterman-surname-popularity/.

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