Explore the Family Name Ostermiller

The meaning of Ostermiller

Americanized form of German Ostermüller, a distinguishing name for a miller (see Mueller) whose mill was situated to the east (see Oster) of a settlement. Some characteristic forenames: German Gottlieb, Kurt.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Ostermiller has shown a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 42,529th most popular surname, while in 2010 it moved to 42,640th place - a minor slip of 0.26%. However, the count of people with this surname increased from 480 in 2000 to 508 in 2010, marking a 5.83% growth. Despite the increase in absolute numbers, the proportion of people named Ostermiller per 100,000 decreased by 5.56%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#42,529	#42,640	-0.26%
Count	480	508	5.83%
Proportion per 100k	0.18	0.17	-5.56%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ostermiller

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Ostermiller also saw some shifts between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The vast majority of individuals with this surname identified as White, with 93.96% in 2000 and an increase to 94.29% by 2010. Those identifying with two or more races remained relatively stable, moving from 2.92% to 2.95% over the decade. Meanwhile, the percentage identifying as Hispanic fell slightly from 1.88% to 1.77%. There were no recorded instances of individuals with the Ostermiller surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander in 2010, despite being at 1.25% in 2000, and there were consistently no Ostermillers who identified as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.96%	94.29%	0.35%
Two or More Races	2.92%	2.95%	1.03%
Hispanic	1.88%	1.77%	-5.85%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.25%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%