Wendorf last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Wendorf

A German topographic name meaning "someone from Wendorf".

Wendorf, 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 Wendorf surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wendorf in America

Wendorf is the 18793rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wendorf surname appeared 1,458 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 Wendorf.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wendorf 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 18793 18667 0.67%
Count 1,458 1,360 6.96%
Proportion per 100k 0.49 0.50 -2.02%

The history of the last name Wendorf

The surname Wendorf is of German origin, with its roots traced back to the 14th century. It is believed to have originated from the region of Thuringia, a state in central Germany. The name is derived from the Old German words "wendan" and "dorf," which translate to "wander" and "village," respectively. This suggests that the name may have been associated with individuals who wandered from one village to another.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Wendorf name can be found in the Bürgerrolle, a citizen registry from the city of Erfurt, Thuringia, dating back to the late 1300s. This document mentions a certain "Hans Wendorf," who was a resident of the city during that time.

In the 15th century, the Wendorf name appeared in various historical records from the region of Saxony, which borders Thuringia. One notable example is the Meissner Amtsbücher, a collection of administrative records from the city of Meissen, which mentions a "Peter Wendorf" in the year 1472.

As the centuries progressed, the Wendorf name spread to other parts of Germany and Europe. In the 16th century, a Johann Wendorf was recorded as a landowner in the town of Flensburg, located in the northern region of Schleswig-Holstein.

Prominent individuals bearing the Wendorf surname include:

  1. Friedrich Wilhelm Wendorf (1734-1802), a German theologian and professor at the University of Göttingen.
  2. Carl August Wendorf (1775-1842), a German painter and engraver known for his landscape paintings.
  3. Wilhelm Wendorf (1829-1903), a German architect and urban planner who contributed to the design of several buildings in Berlin.
  4. Ernst Wendorf (1876-1945), a German politician and member of the Reichstag (German parliament) during the Weimar Republic.
  5. Helmut Wendorf (1920-2005), a German author and screenwriter who wrote several novels and scripts for television productions.

While the Wendorf name has its origins in Germany, it has since spread to other parts of the world, including North America and Australia, due to migration and immigration patterns over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wendorf

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

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 Wendorf was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 95.54% 1,393
Non-Hispanic Black Only 0.82% 12
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.55% 8
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.34% 5
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.96% 14
Hispanic Origin 1.78% 26

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 Wendorf has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 95.54% 96.62% -1.12%
Black 0.82% 0.81% 1.23%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.55% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.34% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 0.96% 0.66% 37.04%
Hispanic 1.78% 1.47% 19.08%

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

"Wendorf last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/wendorf-surname-popularity/.

"Wendorf last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/wendorf-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Wendorf last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/wendorf-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.