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

Vedder, 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 Vedder surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vedder in America

Vedder is the 14495th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vedder surname appeared 2,058 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 Vedder.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vedder 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 Vedder

The surname Vedder is believed to have originated in Germany, specifically in the northern regions near the Netherlands border. It is derived from the Old German word "veder," which means "feather." This suggests that the name may have been an occupational surname for someone who worked with feathers, such as a fletcher or a dealer in feathered goods.

In the 13th century, the surname appeared in various records and manuscripts across northern Germany and the Low Countries. One of the earliest recorded instances was in the town of Lübeck in 1276, where a merchant named Heynrich Vedder was mentioned in a trade document.

As the name spread, it took on different spellings, such as Vedder, Veder, and Felder. These variations were often influenced by regional dialects and the preferences of scribes who recorded the name. In some areas, the name was also associated with places that had derived their names from the same root word, such as the village of Vederau in present-day Lower Saxony.

Among the notable individuals bearing the Vedder surname throughout history, one can mention:

1. Jan Vedder (c. 1490-1560), a Dutch painter known for his biblical and mythological scenes.
2. Esias Vedder (1590-1652), a Dutch Golden Age painter and etcher from Oudenaarde, renowned for his landscapes and genre scenes.
3. Nicolaes Vedder (1628-1718), a Dutch Golden Age painter from Haarlem, known for his portraits and historical paintings.
4. Dirck Vedder (c. 1640-1710), a Dutch Golden Age painter from Haarlem, who specialized in still-life paintings.
5. Eduard Vedder (1805-1882), a German landscape painter and etcher from Hamburg, known for his romantic depictions of nature.

While the surname Vedder has roots tracing back to medieval Germany and the Low Countries, it has since spread to other parts of Europe and the world, carried by migrations and diasporas over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vedder

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

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

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

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