Explore the Family Name Deter

The meaning of Deter

1. North German: from the personal name Detert, which is a shortened form of Dethard, from an old personal name composed of Old Saxon thioda ‘people, race’ + hard ‘strong’. Compare Teter. 2. Posibly also an Americanized form of German Dieter.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Deter in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Deter experienced a slight decline from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 32,302nd most common last name in America and by 2010, it had dropped to the 36,154th spot, representing a change of -11.92%. The count of individuals with this surname also decreased from 672 in 2000 to 620 in 2010, a decrease of -7.74%. Consequently, the proportion of the population with this surname per 100,000 people fell by -16% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#32,302	#36,154	-11.92%
Count	672	620	-7.74%
Proportion per 100k	0.25	0.21	-16%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Deter

In terms of ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data revealed that the majority of individuals with the Deter surname identified as White in both 2000 and 2010. However, there was a slight decrease of -1.05% in this group over the decade. At the same time, the percentage of those identifying as Hispanic increased by 47.12%, from 2.08% in 2000 to 3.06% in 2010. Those who identified as Black made up a smaller proportion, decreasing from 1.19% in 2000 to 0.81% in 2010, a fall of -31.93%. The census data reported no individuals with the Deter surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.68%	94.68%	-1.05%
Hispanic	2.08%	3.06%	47.12%
Black	1.19%	0.81%	-31.93%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%