Explore the Family Name Westerfeld

The meaning of Westerfeld

German: topographic name from Middle High German, Middle Low German wester ‘westerly, west’ + velt ‘open country’. Some characteristic forenames: German Kurt, Otto, Egon.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Westerfeld saw a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, this surname was ranked 45,149th in terms of popularity, but it fell to 47,186th in 2010, marking a 4.51% drop. The count of individuals with the Westerfeld name, however, increased slightly from 447 in 2000 to 450 in 2010 - an increase of 0.67%. Nevertheless, the proportion of people named Westerfeld per 100,000 decreased by 11.76%, moving from 0.17 in 2000 to 0.15 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#45,149	#47,186	-4.51%
Count	447	450	0.67%
Proportion per 100k	0.17	0.15	-11.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Westerfeld

Regarding the ethnic identity associated with the surname Westerfeld, data from the Decennial U.S. Census indicates that it is primarily associated with individuals identifying as White. In 2000, 97.54% of those bearing the surname were White, which slightly decreased to 96.22% in 2010. Interestingly, there was a small emergence of the surname among those identifying with two or more ethnicities in 2010, which was not recorded in the 2000 census. Hispanic representation, though minor at 1.12% in 2000, disappeared altogether in 2010. There were no individuals with the Westerfeld surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.54%	96.22%	-1.35%
Two or More Races	0%	2%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	1.12%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%