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

Vetter, 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 Vetter surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vetter in America

Vetter is the 4142nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vetter surname appeared 8,550 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Vetter.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vetter 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 Vetter

The surname Vetter originated in Germany, with its earliest known records dating back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Middle High German word "veter," which means "paternal uncle" or "father's brother." This term likely emerged from the Old High German word "fatureo," which has a similar meaning.

The Vetter surname was initially concentrated in the regions of Bavaria and Swabia in southern Germany. It was often associated with families or individuals who had a close kinship bond, particularly those related through a paternal uncle or aunt.

One of the earliest known references to the Vetter name can be found in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Eberspergensis, a historical manuscript from the Ebersberg Abbey in Bavaria, dating back to the late 12th century. This document mentions a "Heinricus Vetter" as a witness to a land transaction.

In the 14th century, the Vetter surname appeared in various historical records, such as the Würzburger Lehnbücher (Würzburg Feudal Records) and the Stadtbücher von Nürnberg (City Books of Nuremberg). These records often referred to individuals with the Vetter name as landowners, merchants, or craftsmen.

Notable individuals with the Vetter surname throughout history include:

1. Konrad Vetter (c. 1450-1520), a German humanist and scholar who taught at the University of Heidelberg.
2. Johann Vetter (1480-1541), a German Renaissance painter and wood carver from Nuremberg.
3. Salomon Vetter (1723-1806), a German theologian and professor at the University of Wittenberg.
4. Abraham Vetter (1789-1859), a German-American Lutheran minister and pioneer settler in Ohio.
5. Carl Christian Vetter (1861-1936), a German architect and urban planner known for his work in Berlin.

The Vetter surname has also been associated with various place names in Germany, such as Vettershausen, Vettersweil, and Vetterweis, which likely originated from families or individuals bearing this surname in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vetter

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

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

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

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