How common is the surname Oster?

6,259 people in the United States had the surname Oster in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 49,328 Americans. It ranked 5,554th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Oster?

In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Oster identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Oster?

Stefan Oster, Bishop of Passau, followed by Emily Oster.

Where is the surname Oster most common?

Wikidata records people named Oster in Germany and the United States.

Is the surname Oster getting more or less common?

More common. 5,771 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,259 in 2010, up 8.5%.

The surname Oster

A German surname, carried by 6,259 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex O236

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Oster is more common than 96.6% of them.

Origin

German origin

Borrowed from German Oster or Swedish Öster.

One of 1,101 German surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 6,259 people named Oster in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 49,328 Americans. That is up 8.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,771.

#5,554

rank among US surnames

6,259

people in 2010

2.1

per 100,000 Americans

+8.5%

change since 2000 (was #5,534)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,549	Almazan	6,265	49,281
#5,551	Chilton	6,263	49,297
#5,553	Schatz	6,261	49,312
#5,554	Oster	6,259	49,328
#5,555	Milne	6,258	49,336

Who is named Oster

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

94% of people named Oster identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.6% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 94%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 1.6%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Osters

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Stefan Oster
Bishop of Passau, born 1965
Emily Oster
American economist, born 1980

Notable Osters come mostly from Germany (1) and the United States (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Oster

Oster has the Soundex code O236, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code O236.

Other German surnames

All 1,101 German surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Oster come from?: Borrowed from German Oster or Swedish Öster.
How common is the surname Oster?: 6,259 people in the United States had the surname Oster in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 49,328 Americans. It ranked 5,554th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Oster?: In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Oster identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Oster?: Stefan Oster, Bishop of Passau, followed by Emily Oster.
Where is the surname Oster most common?: Wikidata records people named Oster in Germany and the United States.
Is the surname Oster getting more or less common?: More common. 5,771 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,259 in 2010, up 8.5%.