2000
#130,443
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 120
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Vandewarker
A Dutch surname meaning "one who guards the dam or dike".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Vandewarker. That puts it at #153,590 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,880,289 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Vandewarker surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
119
1 in 2,880,289
Census rank
#153,590
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
104
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 104 bearers of the surname Vandewarker in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 153590th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Vandewarker, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Vandewarker
The surname VANDEWARKER is of Dutch origin, originating in the Netherlands during the 16th century. The name is derived from the Dutch words "van de" meaning "from the" and "warker" which referred to a person who worked with wares or goods, likely a merchant or trader. The original spelling of the name was "Van de Warker" before it became anglicized over time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Dutch city of Leiden's municipal records from the late 1500s, where a man named Pieter van de Warker is listed as a cloth merchant. This suggests the name may have initially been associated with the textile trade in the Low Countries.
In the 17th century, several individuals with the surname VANDEWARKER immigrated to the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which later became New York. One of the first was Cornelis Pietersz van de Warker, who arrived in New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) around 1640 and worked as a shopkeeper.
Another early bearer of the name was Adriaen Cornelisz van de Warker, born in Leiden in 1645, who later settled in the Dutch village of Flatbush (now part of Brooklyn) in the 1670s. He worked as a farmer and left numerous descendants in the New York area.
In the 18th century, the name VANDEWARKER began appearing in various spellings such as Van de Warker, Van de Worker, and Van de Weerker, reflecting the challenges of anglicizing Dutch surnames during this period.
One notable bearer of the name was Johannes van de Werker (1710-1792), a wealthy merchant and landowner in Kinderhook, New York. He was a prominent figure in the local Dutch community and served as a deacon in the Dutch Reformed Church.
Another individual of note was Jacobus Vandewarker (1770-1845), a soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later became a successful farmer and landowner in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
Throughout the 19th century, the VANDEWARKER name continued to be found primarily in the northeastern United States, particularly in New York and New Jersey, reflecting the Dutch colonial roots of the surname in that region.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vandewarker
Among Census respondents with the surname Vandewarker, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Vandewarker bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Vandewarker surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.5% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 6
- Two or more races4.8% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 3
Timeline
Historical Census data for Vandewarker
Vandewarker appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#138,304
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 121
+1 bearers (+0.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 7,861 places
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
-17 bearers (-14.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Down 15,286 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #130,443 | 120 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #138,304 | 121 | 0.04 | +1 bearers (+0.8%) | Down 7,861 places |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | -17 bearers (-14.0%) | Down 15,286 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Vandewarker surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #138,304 | #153,590 | -11.1% |
| Count | 121 | 104 | -14.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.03 | -13.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Vandewarker bearers went from 121 to 104 (-14.0% change). The surname moved down 15,286 positions in the national ranking, going from #138,304 to #153,590.
FAQ
Vandewarker surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Vandewarker?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Vandewarker. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Vandewarker?
Vandewarker ranks #153,590 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 104 people with the surname Vandewarker. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (119), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Vandewarker.
Has Vandewarker become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Vandewarker went from 121 recorded bearers to 104. That is a decrease of 17 (-14.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #138,304 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Vandewarker?
Among Census respondents with the surname Vandewarker, the largest self-reported group is White at 86.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Vandewarker in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.5% (90 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Vandewarker appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (86.5%), Hispanic (5.8%), Two or More Races (4.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Vandewarker (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Vandewarker mean?
A Dutch surname meaning "one who guards the dam or dike". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Vandewarker (0.03 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Vandewarker?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.