Vanderbilt Surname Guide

Families named Vanderbilt carry a Dutch surname with a long history. Elsdon Smith's dictionary of American family names explains it as “dweller at, or near, the heap or mound”.

Vanderbilt coat of arms

Heraldry is personal. Arms recorded for a Vanderbilt family belonged to that family, and other bearers of the name may have no link to them.

Surname origin

Landscape names of this kind told neighbours where a family's house stood.

Vanderbilt ranked 15,947 in the 2010 US Census, with 1,822 people answering to the name. Want more than a summary? See the Vanderbilt family name pack.