Oster
A surname usually meaning “east” or “eastern,” often used for someone from the east or living east of a place.
The #5,554 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 49,328 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Oster comes from a Germanic word for “east,” related to Old English east and German Ost. In surname use, it most often had the sense “the eastern one” or “person from the east,” and in some cases may have referred to someone living on the east side of a settlement. Older writers also sometimes linked it to a longer form like Oester/Ooster, and occasionally suggested a connection with the old spring festival name Easter/Eastre, but the basic directional meaning is the common explanation.
History
The name appears in several German and Dutch surname traditions, and related forms such as Ooster, Oester, Ostermann, and Osterwald show the same directional root. In English records, similar-looking forms can also overlap with occupational names connected to falconry, so not every medieval spelling with Oster is necessarily the same origin. In modern use, Oster is found especially in German-speaking areas and in countries shaped by German immigration, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century scholars noted that Oster could be an expanded form of the simple word for “east,” rather than a completely separate name.
From the historical record
“ASTOR. Local. Oster, a town in North Jutland. Greek, a star. Austeuer, G-erman, a dowry, a portion. Ooster, the east part. ATHERTON. (Sax.) Local From Atherstone, a town in”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names