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

Vilt, 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 Vilt surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Vilt in America

Vilt is the 101247th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Vilt surname appeared 178 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 Vilt.

We can also compare 2010 data for Vilt 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 Vilt

The surname VILT is of German origin, first appearing in records from the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "vilt," meaning "felt," suggesting the name may have originally referred to a felt maker or someone who worked with felt.

The earliest known bearer of the name was Hans Vilt, a feltmaker who lived in the town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria, Germany, in the 1540s. Records show he was a member of the local feltmakers' guild.

In the 17th century, the surname began appearing in various forms, such as Vildt, Vieldt, and Fieldt, likely due to regional variations in spelling and pronunciation. One notable bearer from this period was Johann Vilt (1592-1667), a Protestant theologian from Nuremberg.

By the 18th century, the name had spread to other parts of Germany, as well as neighboring regions like Alsace, France. In 1732, a village called Viltshausen (literally "Vilt's houses") was established in the Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany, presumably named after an early settler with the surname.

A few notable individuals with the surname VILT include:

1. Friedrich Vilt (1801-1876), a German painter and lithographer from Darmstadt.
2. Konrad Vilt (1862-1924), an Austrian composer and conductor from Vienna.
3. Ernst Vilt (1876-1945), a German architect who designed several prominent buildings in Berlin.
4. Klara Vilt (1898-1983), a German writer and poet from Munich.
5. Helmut Vilt (1927-2003), a German businessman and philanthropist who founded the Vilt Foundation for social causes.

While the surname VILT is not among the most common in Germany today, it has a long and interesting history dating back to the 16th century and the early feltmaking trade.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Vilt

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

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

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

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