Explore the Family Name Nast

The meaning of Nast

German: topographic name for someone who lived in a thickly wooded area, or a metonymic occupational name for a woodcutter, from Middle High German nast ‘branch’, a regional variant of ast, resulting from the misdivision of forms such as (ei)n ast ‘branch’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname "Nast" saw a slight decrease from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked at 27,207 and by 2010, it had dropped slightly in rank to 27,783, representing a change of -2.12%. However, despite the drop in ranking, the total count of individuals with the surname increased from 836 in 2000 to 865 in 2010, showing a growth of 3.47%. The proportion per 100,000 people also decreased from 0.31 in 2000 to 0.29 in 2010, indicating a -6.45% change.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#27,207	#27,783	-2.12%
Count	836	865	3.47%
Proportion per 100k	0.31	0.29	-6.45%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Nast

The Nast family's ethnic identity also changed between these two census years. Individuals identifying as White represented the majority ethnicity for this surname, although there was a slight decrease from 97.01% in 2000 to 94.91% in 2010. In contrast, those claiming two or more races within this surname saw a significant increase from 1.08% to 2.43%, marking a 125% change. The Hispanic community within the Nast surname grew by 61.11% during the same period, while those identifying as Black made their first appearance in 2010 with 0.92%. Asian/Pacific Islander representation among those with the Nast surname disappeared entirely in 2010, down from 0.72% in 2000, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.01%	94.91%	-2.16%
Two or More Races	1.08%	2.43%	125%
Hispanic	0.72%	1.16%	61.11%
Black	0%	0.92%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.72%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%