Explore the Family Name Vandewater

The meaning of Vandewater

Dutch (Van de Water): topographic name for someone who lived next to a water.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Vandewater saw a minor dip in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 21,578th most popular surname in the United States. By 2010, however, it had slipped to the 22,334th spot, marking a decrease of 3.5%. Despite this drop in rank, the actual count of individuals with this surname increased slightly from 1127 to 1154 during the same period, indicating a growth rate of 2.4%. Nonetheless, when considering the proportion per 100,000 people, the prevalence of the Vandewater surname decreased by 7.14% over this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#21,578	#22,334	-3.5%
Count	1,127	1,154	2.4%
Proportion per 100k	0.42	0.39	-7.14%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Vandewater

The Decennial U.S. Census also provides insights into the changes in the ethnic identity associated with the Vandewater surname. The overwhelming majority of individuals bearing this surname identified as White in both 2000 (96.01%) and 2010 (95.58%), with only a marginal decline of 0.45% over the ten years. Those identifying as Asian or Pacific Islander and Hispanic saw an increase, with the former group growing by 38.64% and the latter by 34.95%. Meanwhile, there was a reduction in the percentage of those who identify with two or more ethnicities, from 1.24% in 2000 to 0.78% in 2010, a change of -37.10%. There were no recorded individuals with this surname identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.01%	95.58%	-0.45%
Hispanic	1.86%	2.51%	34.95%
Two or More Races	1.24%	0.78%	-37.1%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.44%	0.61%	38.64%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%