Explore the Family Name Ruiter

The meaning of Ruiter

Dutch: variant of De Ruiter and Rutter 3. This surname is also found in Germany. Some characteristic forenames: Dutch Gerrit, Albertus, Cornie, Geert, Henk, Pieter. German Hans, Kurt.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Ruiter in the United States has slightly decreased over a decade. In 2000, it was ranked as the 32,488th most common name and was carried by approximately 667 individuals. By 2010, the rank had slipped to 35,294, and the number of people with this surname had fallen to 638, representing a decrease of 4.35%. The proportion of individuals named Ruiter per 100,000 population also fell by 12% over this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#32,488	#35,294	-8.64%
Count	667	638	-4.35%
Proportion per 100k	0.25	0.22	-12%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ruiter

Regarding the ethnic identity associated with the Ruiter surname, the Decennial U.S. Census reveals some shifts between 2000 and 2010. While the vast majority of individuals with the Ruiter surname identified as White (97.15% in 2000 and 94.36% in 2010), there were notable increases in those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and those reporting two or more races. The percentage of Ruiters identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander more than doubled from 0.75% to 1.57%, and those reporting multiple ethnic identities increased similarly from 1.05% to 2.19%. There was also a slight increase in those identifying as Hispanic, from 0.75% to 0.94%. No Ruiters identified as Black, American Indian, or Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.15%	94.36%	-2.87%
Two or More Races	1.05%	2.19%	108.57%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.75%	1.57%	109.33%
Hispanic	0.75%	0.94%	25.33%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%