Explore the Family Name Van Voorst

The meaning of Van Voorst

Dutch: 1. habitational name for someone from either of two places in Gelderland called Voorst. 2. habitational name for someone from any of several places called Vorst or Vurste, or a topographic name for someone who lived in a forest, from Middle Dutch vorst (from Latin forestum).

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

How common is the last name Van Voorst in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Van Voorst has shown a notable increase between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the surname was ranked 35,916th in popularity but climbed to 33,990th by 2010, marking a 5.36% change. Similarly, the count of individuals with the Van Voorst surname rose from 591 in 2000 to 669 in 2010; this denotes a 13.2% rise. The proportion per 100,000 people also saw an increase from 0.22 to 0.23 over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#35,916	#33,990	5.36%
Count	591	669	13.2%
Proportion per 100k	0.22	0.23	4.55%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Van Voorst

Regarding ethnic identity associated with the surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that in 2010, most Van Voorsts identified as White, though the percentage dropped slightly from 99.32% in 2000 to 97.31% in 2010. While there were no recorded instances of Van Voorsts identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or Hispanic in 2000, by 2010, these categories represented 0.75% of the Van Voorsts each. Additionally, those identifying as part of two or more races accounted for 0.90% in 2010, even though this category was unrepresented in 2000. There were no changes in the categories of Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
White	99.32%	97.31%	-2.02%
Two or More Races	0%	0.9%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.75%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0.75%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%