Explore the Family Name Pater
The meaning of Pater
1. Dutch, English, German, and Polish: from Latin pater ‘father’, also used to denote the father superior in a religious order, hence probably a nickname for a solemn or pompous man. 2. English: nickname from Middle English pater ‘paternoster’; see Paternoster. Some characteristic forenames: Polish Stanislaw, Tadeusz, Zbigniew, Mariusz, Wieslaw, Wieslawa, Wladyslaw.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Pater in the United States?
According to the Popularity data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Pater saw a slight decrease in prevalence from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Pater ranked 19,852 in terms of popularity among surnames in the United States; however, by 2010, it had fallen to 23,205 — a drop of nearly 17 percent. The actual count of individuals with the Pater name also decreased during this period, from 1,253 to 1,099, marking a reduction of roughly 12 percent. When evaluated in proportion to every 100,000 people, the presence of the Pater surname also fell by just under 20 percent.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #19,852 | #23,205 | -16.89% |
| Count | 1,253 | 1,099 | -12.29% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.46 | 0.37 | -19.57% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pater
The Ethnicity data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals some shifts in the ethnic identities associated with the Pater surname from 2000 to 2010. White individuals make up the majority of Paters, and their proportion slightly increased from around 91 percent to nearly 92 percent over the ten-year span. Meanwhile, those identifying as Asian or Pacific Islander and those reporting two or more races both saw modest drops, by about 14 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Those identifying as Hispanic saw a significant increase, jumping from approximately 1.4 percent to almost 2.5 percent. However, there was no recorded percentage for those identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2010, due to data suppression for privacy reasons.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 90.98% | 91.63% | 0.71% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 4.15% | 3.55% | -14.46% |
| Hispanic | 1.36% | 2.46% | 80.88% |
| Two or More Races | 1.84% | 1.73% | -5.98% |
| Black | 1.68% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |