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The Staats surname carries a very proud and deep history - especially in the United States. Our ancestors played a major role in the history of the U.S.A. - they fought in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and more recent conflicts. George Washington and Baron Von Steuben (Inspector General of the Revolutionary Army) used one of the homes of our ancestors as a headquarters during the Revolutionary War. The Staats name is very unique and uncommon among surnames. It has origins that are northern German and Dutch (Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, "Staats" is the 8,023rd most common surname, comprising 0.001% of the total population in the U.S. Come see how you can be a part of this project and learn where YOU fit into the proud history of this family name.
The earliest known Staats ancestors immigrated to New Netherland (now New York) in the 17th century. The first of these ancestors to arrive was Jan Pieterszen Van Husum(also known as Jan Pietersen Van Huysen, Jan Pieterszen Van Hoesen, Jan Pieterszen Van Housen and Jan Pieterszen Van Husen), who arrived and settled in New Amsterdam circa 1638 and removed to Gowanus (Brooklyn) in 1642. It is assumed that Jan emigrated from Husum, Schleswig, Denmark (what is now Schleswig-Holstein Germany) as there are records where he uses the "van Husum" name. Jan never actually went by the Staats surname. His two sons, Pieter Janse and Jan Janse, were using the Staats surname by the time they took the King of England's Oath of Allegiance in Kings County in 1687. The second of these ancestors was Abraham Staats, who arrived and settled in/near Albany in 1642. Abraham emigrated from Amsterdam, Holland. We now know, from DNA testing, that these two men were not even remotely related in their direct-paternal lines. There are, of course, more immigrants who are of the Staats surname(and variants thereof) that came from Germany, Holland and other countries.