Explore the Family Name Falter

The meaning of Falter

South German: topographic name from Middle High German valletor, valter, the term for a self-closing gate, placed between a village and the adjacent fields, hence for someone who lived near the gate or was in charge of its operation.

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

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

Based on the data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Falter has slightly decreased over a decade. In 2000, the surname was ranked 18,994 in popularity and by 2010, it had slipped to rank 20,227, indicating a -6.49% change. The count of individuals bearing the surname also slightly declined from 1,327 in 2000 to 1,317 in 2010, representing a minor drop of -0.75%. Consequently, the proportion of individuals named Falter per 100k population also dropped by -8.16%, from 0.49 in 2000 to 0.45 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#18,994	#20,227	-6.49%
Count	1,327	1,317	-0.75%
Proportion per 100k	0.49	0.45	-8.16%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Falter

When looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Falter, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals some shifts between 2000 and 2010. The majority of people with this surname identified as White, although the percentage decreased slightly from 95.63% in 2000 to 93.93% in 2010. There was an increase in those identifying as Hispanic, from 2.11% in 2000 to 3.42% in 2010. The percentages for Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native were relatively low, but there was a slight increase in each category. Those identifying as having two or more races slightly decreased from 1.28% in 2000 to 1.14% in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.63%	93.93%	-1.78%
Hispanic	2.11%	3.42%	62.09%
Two or More Races	1.28%	1.14%	-10.94%
Black	0%	0.53%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.45%	0.53%	17.78%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.46%	0%