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

Woltjer, 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 Woltjer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Woltjer in America

Woltjer is the 59017th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Woltjer surname appeared 343 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 Woltjer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Woltjer 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 Woltjer

The surname Woltjer has its origins in the Netherlands, specifically in the northern provinces such as Friesland and Groningen. Emerging as early as the Middle Ages, the name is a patronymic surname derived from the given name Wolter, which is itself a Dutch variation of the Germanic name Walther. Walther combines the elements "wald," meaning "rule," and "heri," meaning "army," signifying a ruler or commander.

In old records and manuscripts, similar names such as Wolter and Wolters can frequently be found, which indicates the likelihood of Woltjer evolving from these older forms. The area where the surname Woltjer is common has a rich history of patronymic naming conventions, where a child's last name often reflects the father’s first name with a suffix denoting "son of" or "descendant of." This tradition started to formalize around the 15th and 16th centuries.

The earliest recorded appearances of the surname Woltjer can be traced to church documents and municipal registers from the 17th century in Friesland and Groningen. For instance, a 1673 baptismal record from a church in Leeuwarden mentions a Jan Woltjer as the father of the baptized child. Similarly, an old tax register from 1690 lists a Pieter Woltjer as a landowner in Groningen.

Several individuals with the surname Woltjer have made notable contributions throughout history. Jan Hendrik Woltjer (1849-1917), a prominent Dutch astronomer, made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics. His grandson, Lodewijk Woltjer (1930-2019), continued this legacy as an influential astrophysicist and served as the director general of the European Southern Observatory from 1975 to 1987.

Another significant figure is Jan Woltjer (1891-1946), a renowned philosopher and professor of logic and ontology at the University of Groningen. A contemporary of Jan is his brother, Wicher Woltjer (1893-1960), who gained recognition as an agricultural scientist and was active in developing modern farming techniques in the Netherlands.

The surname Woltjer is also connected to regional place names, with smaller towns and estates in Friesland and Groningen bearing names like Woltersum, underscoring the historical and geographical roots of the surname. These connections highlight the enduring legacy and significance of the name Woltjer across the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Woltjer

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

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

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

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