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

Waldorf, 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 Waldorf surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Waldorf in America

Waldorf is the 16166th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Waldorf surname appeared 1,788 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 Waldorf.

We can also compare 2010 data for Waldorf 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 Waldorf

The surname Waldorf has its origins in Germany, tracing back to the medieval period around the 12th century. It is derived from the German words "wald" meaning forest or woods, and "dorf" meaning village or settlement. This suggests that the name originally referred to a person who lived in or came from a village located in a forested area.

One of the earliest known records of this surname is found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, which mentions a person named Henricus de Waldorf in the year 1212. This indicates that the name was already in use by the early 13th century.

The name Waldorf is also associated with the town of Waldorf, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. It is believed that some individuals with this surname may have originated from this particular town or its surrounding regions.

In the 14th century, a notable figure bearing the name Waldorf was Johannes Waldorf, a German scholar and theologian born around 1320. He was a prominent member of the University of Heidelberg and authored several works on philosophy and theology.

Another historical figure with this surname was Valentin Waldorf (1498-1567), a German Protestant reformer and theologian who played a significant role in the Reformation movement in Saxony. He was a close associate of Martin Luther and helped spread the teachings of the Protestant faith.

In the 17th century, Johann Waldorf (1615-1688) was a German merchant and banker who achieved considerable wealth and influence in the city of Hamburg. He was a prominent figure in the city's mercantile community and contributed to the economic development of the region.

During the 18th century, Johann Christian Waldorf (1723-1799) was a German philosopher and educator who made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy. He was an advocate for progressive educational methods and believed in fostering the individual development of students.

The name Waldorf also gained recognition in the 20th century through the establishment of the Waldorf education system, founded by the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). The first Waldorf school was opened in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany, and the educational approach emphasizes a holistic and developmentally appropriate curriculum.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Waldorf

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

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

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

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