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

Wideman, 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 Wideman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Wideman in America

Wideman is the 7578th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Wideman surname appeared 4,385 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 Wideman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Wideman 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 Wideman

The surname Wideman is of English origin and dates back to the late 12th century. It is a locational name derived from the Middle English words "wide" meaning broad and "man" referring to a person. The name likely originated from a location with a prominent or large dwelling or perhaps a broad meadow or field.

Early records show the surname spelled as Wydeman, Widyman, and Wydyman among other variations. One of the earliest known recorded instances of the name is found in the Pipe Rolls of Wiltshire in 1201, where a William Wydeman is mentioned.

In the 13th century, the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273 list a Hugo Wydeman. During this period, the name appears to have been concentrated in the southern counties of England, particularly Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, and Hampshire.

The Wideman name can also be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, which includes a reference to a landowner named Widemannus in the county of Sussex.

Notable historical figures with the surname Wideman include John Wideman (1492-1558), a prominent English merchant and member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers in London. Another early Wideman of note was William Wideman (1610-1688), a Puritan minister who emigrated to New England and served as the pastor of the First Church in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

In the 18th century, Johann Wideman (1734-1808) was a German Baroque composer and organist who served as the court musician to the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg. During the American Revolutionary War, Captain Jacob Wideman (1743-1810) fought in the Continental Army and was present at the Battle of Trenton in 1776.

One of the most prominent bearers of the Wideman name was Sir John Wideman (1820-1895), a British industrialist and philanthropist who founded the Wideman Steel Works in Sheffield and served as a Member of Parliament.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Wideman

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

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

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

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