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

Witte, 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 Witte surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Witte in America

Witte is the 3617th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Witte surname appeared 9,816 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Witte.

We can also compare 2010 data for Witte 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 Witte

The surname WITTE has its origins in Germany, and is derived from the Germanic word "hwit," meaning white or bright. It is believed to have first emerged in the 12th century as a descriptive name, likely referring to a person with fair hair or complexion.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Traditionum Westfalicarum, a medieval manuscript from the 13th century, which mentions a "Henricus Witte" in the city of Münster. The surname also appears in various historical records from the 14th and 15th centuries across various regions of Germany, including Saxony, Brandenburg, and Westphalia.

The name WITTE was particularly prevalent in the northern German states, where it was often associated with prominent families and individuals. In the 16th century, Petrus Witte (1499-1572) was a renowned German theologian and reformer who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation.

Another notable figure was Johann Heinrich Witte (1703-1773), a German jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor at the University of Halle and authored several influential works on jurisprudence.

In the 18th century, Samuel Gottlieb Witte (1730-1803) was a German philanthropist and industrialist who established several charitable foundations and made significant contributions to the development of the textile industry in Saxony.

The name WITTE also has ties to various place names in Germany, such as Wittenburg (now known as Białogard) in Pomerania, and the town of Wittenberg, famously associated with Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.

During the 19th century, Carl Witte (1800-1883) was a renowned German chemist and inventor, best known for his contributions to the development of the modern match.

As German immigrants settled in other parts of the world, the surname WITTE spread to various countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Witte

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

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

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

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