Explore the Family Name Vanderwerf

The meaning of Vanderwerf

Dutch (Van der Werf): 1. topographic name from Middle Dutch werve, denoting a dwelling mound or an uncultivated area of land surrounding a house, farm, dike, or the like. 2. topographic name for someone who lived by a wharf, Middle Dutch werf.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Vanderwerf has experienced a slight increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the surname moved from 26,642 in 2000 to 26,598 in 2010, showing an improvement of 0.17%. The count of individuals with this surname also increased by 6.51%, moving from 860 in 2000 to 916 in 2010. However, when considering the proportion per 100,000 people, there was a small decrease of -3.12% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#26,642	#26,598	0.17%
Count	860	916	6.51%
Proportion per 100k	0.32	0.31	-3.12%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Vanderwerf

The Vanderwerf surname exhibits diverse ethnic identities as indicated in the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2010, the majority of the Vanderwerfs identified as White (94.65%), although this showed a slight decrease from 96.63% in 2000. The representation of those identifying as Hispanic saw a growth of 11.89%, increasing from 2.44% in 2000 to 2.73% in 2010. There was also an interesting increase in the number of individuals identifying with two or more races, which grew dramatically by 256.9%, from 0.58% in 2000 to 2.07% in 2010. Despite these shifts, the data shows no Vanderwerfs identified as Black, Asian/Pacific Islander, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in 2000, but by 2010, there were Vanderwerfs who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.63%	94.65%	-2.05%
Hispanic	2.44%	2.73%	11.89%
Two or More Races	0.58%	2.07%	256.9%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.55%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%