Explore the Family Name Rossum

The meaning of Rossum

1. Norwegian (Røssum): habitational name from the farm name Røssum in Gudbrandsdal, a compound of an unexplained first element + Old Norse heimr ‘farmstead’. 2. Dutch (Van Rossum): habitational name for someone from any of the places called Rossum in Gelderland and Overijssel.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Rossum has seen a slight decrease over a decade. In 2000, the surname was ranked 67,522nd and by 2010, it had dropped to 69,996th, indicating a change of -3.66. Despite this drop in rank, the count of individuals with this surname increased from 273 to 280 during the same period, marking a growth rate of 2.56. However, when looking at the proportion per 100k people, there is a slight decline from 0.1 to 0.09, a 10% decrease.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#67,522	#69,996	-3.66%
Count	273	280	2.56%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.09	-10%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rossum

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Rossum also shifted according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The largest ethnicity group identifying with this surname is White, comprising 56.04% of all bearers in 2000 and decreasing slightly to 53.57% in 2010. The second-largest group is Black, with 42.49% in 2000 and a small dip to 41.79% in 2010. While there were no individuals of Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native descent reported with the surname Rossum, the census did show an emergence of multiple races and Hispanic ethnicities. Starting from zero in 2000, by 2010, 1.79% identified as belonging to two or more races and 2.5% identified as Hispanic.

	2000	2010	Change
White	56.04%	53.57%	-4.41%
Black	42.49%	41.79%	-1.65%
Hispanic	0%	2.5%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	1.79%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%