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

Wesa, 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 Wesa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wesa in America

Wesa is the 110286th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wesa surname appeared 160 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 Wesa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wesa 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 Wesa

The surname WESA is believed to have originated in the region of Silesia, which today encompasses parts of southwestern Poland, eastern Czechia, and a small part of northeastern Germany. The name likely dates back to the 14th or 15th century.

WESA is thought to be derived from the Slavic word "wes" or "ves," meaning a village or a settlement. It could have been used to identify someone who lived in a particular village or hailed from a specific area. The name may also be related to the Old German word "wase," referring to a meadow or a grassy area.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the WESA surname can be found in the Silesian Duchy records from the late 15th century, where a certain Hans Wesa is mentioned as a landowner in the village of Züllichau (now Sulechów, Poland). In the 16th century, there are references to a family named Wesa residing in the town of Neisse (now Nysa, Poland).

A notable bearer of the WESA name was Johann Wesa (1582-1647), a German Protestant theologian and philosopher who served as the rector of the University of Frankfurt (Oder). Another person of note was Christoph Wesa (1610-1679), a German jurist and professor of law at the University of Leipzig.

In the 18th century, a branch of the Wesa family settled in the Prussian region of Silesia, where they were involved in various trades and professions. One member, Friedrich Wesa (1742-1818), was a respected merchant and civic leader in the city of Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland).

Moving into the 19th century, there was a German painter named Carl Wesa (1813-1892) who was known for his landscapes and genre scenes depicting rural life in Silesia. Another notable individual was Theodor Wesa (1852-1923), a German industrialist and entrepreneur who founded a successful textile manufacturing company in the city of Görlitz (now in eastern Germany).

As the name WESA originated and was primarily concentrated in the Silesian region, it is not surprising that many of the early recorded bearers of this surname were from that area. While the name may have spread to other parts of Europe and beyond over time, its roots can be traced back to the villages and towns of Silesia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wesa

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Wesa, 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!