Explore the Family Name Polster

The meaning of Polster

German: from Middle High German bolster, polster ‘cushion, pillow’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of pillows, an upholsterer.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Polster has seen a slight decrease in popularity over a decade. In 2000, Polster was ranked 21,323rd in popularity, whereas in 2010, it had moved down slightly to be the 21,625th most common surname. However, the count of people bearing this surname increased from 1,145 in 2000 to 1,206 in 2010, marking a growth of 5.33%. Despite this increase in absolute numbers, the proportion of people with the surname Polster per 100,000 decreased by 2.38%, bringing it to 0.41 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#21,323	#21,625	-1.42%
Count	1,145	1,206	5.33%
Proportion per 100k	0.42	0.41	-2.38%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Polster

In terms of ethnicity, the census data shows that the majority of individuals with the surname Polster identify as White, with 96.59% and 95.02% in 2000 and 2010 respectively. There was a significant increase in those identifying as Hispanic, with a growth rate of 90.00%, albeit from a small base of 0.70% in 2000 to 1.33% in 2010. The percentage of Polsters identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander dropped from 0.61% in 2000 to zero in 2010. Similarly, those identifying with two or more races declined by 15.29%. No Polsters identified as Black in either year. A new ethnic identity appeared in 2010, with 1.08% identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native. This data is based on the Decennial U.S. Census and does not indicate any specific individuals.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.59%	95.02%	-1.63%
Two or More Races	1.57%	1.33%	-15.29%
Hispanic	0.7%	1.33%	90%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	1.08%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.61%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%