2000
#21,578
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,127
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.42
Rare Last name
Vandewater
A Dutch surname meaning "from the water" or "near the water".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 1,401 Americans carry the last name Vandewater. That puts it at #21,741 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.41 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 244,650 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Vandewater 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
1.4K
1 in 244,650
Census rank
#21,741
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,222 bearers of the surname Vandewater in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.41 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 21741st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Vandewater, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Vandewater
The surname VANDEWATER has its origins in the Netherlands and likely first appeared in the 16th or 17th century. It is derived from the Dutch words "van de" meaning "from the" and "water" referring to a body of water or waterway. Together, the name suggests the original bearers lived near a river, lake, or other significant waterway.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the VANDEWATER name can be found in the Dutch province of Zeeland, where a family bearing this surname lived near the Rhine River delta in the 1500s. Similar spellings like VAN DE WATERE and VAN DER WATERE also appeared in historical records from this region during that time period.
In the late 16th century, a VANDEWATER family settled in the town of Leiden, which was a prominent center of the Protestant Reformation. Johannes VANDEWATER, born in 1587, was among the earliest known members of this Leiden branch of the family. His grandson, Pieter VANDEWATER (1621-1691), later emigrated to New Amsterdam (present-day New York City) in the 1650s.
As the Dutch established colonies in the New World, the VANDEWATER name spread across the Atlantic. One of the first recorded instances in North America is Jacob VANDEWATER, born in 1650 in New Amsterdam. He later moved to Albany, where he served as a magistrate and landowner.
Another notable early bearer of the VANDEWATER name was Maria VANDEWATER (1669-1745), who married into the prominent Van Rensselaer family and helped establish one of the largest landholdings in colonial New York.
In the 19th century, William VANDEWATER (1812-1897) was a respected lawyer and judge in New York state, serving as a county judge and later as a justice on the state's Supreme Court.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vandewater
Among Census respondents with the surname Vandewater, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Vandewater 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 Vandewater surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.3% · 1,140
- Two or more races3.3% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 11
- Black or African American0.3% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Vandewater
Vandewater 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
#22,334
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,154
+27 bearers (+2.4%)
Per 100,000 0.39
Rank movement Down 756 places
2020
#21,741
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,222
+68 bearers (+5.9%)
Per 100,000 0.41
Rank movement Up 593 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #21,578 | 1,127 | 0.42 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #22,334 | 1,154 | 0.39 | +27 bearers (+2.4%) | Down 756 places |
| 2020 | #21,741 | 1,222 | 0.41 | +68 bearers (+5.9%) | Up 593 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 Vandewater 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 | #22,334 | #21,741 | 2.7% |
| Count | 1,154 | 1,222 | 5.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.39 | 0.41 | 4.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Vandewater bearers went from 1,154 to 1,222 (+5.9% change). The surname moved up 593 positions in the national ranking, going from #22,334 to #21,741.
FAQ
Vandewater surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Vandewater?
Name Census estimates that about 1,401 living Americans carry the surname Vandewater. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 244,650 residents.
How common is Vandewater?
Vandewater ranks #21,741 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.41 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 1,222 people with the surname Vandewater. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (1,401), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.41 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.41 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 Vandewater.
Has Vandewater become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Vandewater went from 1,154 recorded bearers to 1,222. That is an increase of 68 (+5.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #22,334 to #21,741.
What does the Census say about the background of Vandewater?
Among Census respondents with the surname Vandewater, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Vandewater in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.3% (1,140 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Vandewater appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.3%), Two or More Races (3.3%), Hispanic (2.1%). 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 Vandewater (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 Vandewater mean?
A Dutch surname meaning "from the water" or "near the water". 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 Vandewater (0.41 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 people are called Vandewater?
Want to know how many Americans have the surname Vandewater? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.