Explore the Family Name Omer

The meaning of Omer

1. Muslim: variant of Omar. 2. German: variant of Ohmer. 3. English (of Norman origin) and French: from the (Old) French personal name Omer (from ancient Germanic Aud(o)mar, from aud- ‘riches’ + mari- ‘famous’). 4. English: variant of Homer. 5. Albanian: from the Muslim personal name Omer (see 1 above). In North America, this surname is probably also an altered form of the much more common Albanian variant Omeri, based on the definite form of the personal name. 6. American shortened form of Slovenian Omerzel: nickname from an old spelling of omrzel ‘hated, repulsive; stiff (with cold)’. History: It was Aloysius (Louis) Omerzel from Lower Styria (then in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, now in Slovenia), who changed his surname to Omer after he settled in PA c.1920. Some characteristic forenames: Arabic/Muslim Ahmed, Mohamed, Mohammed, Tarig, Mohammad, Murad, Abdirahman, Abdul, Abdulla, Abdulrahim, Ali, Amin.

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

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

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Omer has seen a significant rise in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of this name jumped from 18,329 in 2000 to 14,474 in 2010, marking an increase of 21.03%. Correspondingly, the count of individuals bearing the surname also saw a substantial growth of 47.89%, soaring from 1,395 to 2,063 over a decade. The proportion of people named Omer per 100,000 increased by 34.62%, going up from 0.52 to 0.7.

20002010Change
Rank#18,329#14,47421.03%
Count1,3952,06347.89%
Proportion per 100k0.520.734.62%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Omer

The ethnic identity distribution of the Omer surname shows interesting shifts as well, based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census. In 2010, the percentage of Omers identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Black significantly increased by 55.28% and 64.17% respectively compared to 2000. Meanwhile, the proportion of Omers identifying as Two or more races saw a considerable decrease by 59.91%. White Omers also decreased, moving from 58.49% to 47.21%. There were no Omers who identified as Hispanic or American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2000, but by 2010, these groups made up 1.70% and 0.24% of the Omer population respectively.

20002010Change
White58.49%47.21%-19.29%
Black22.94%37.66%64.17%
Asian/Pacific Islander5.59%8.68%55.28%
Two or More Races11.25%4.51%-59.91%
Hispanic0%1.7%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0.24%0%