Kastein Genealogy and Kastein Family History Information

Kastein as a family name in Estonia can be traced mainly to a community on the southern part of Hiiumaa, near Emmaste [1] [2]. The surname is said to come from the Estonian word for chestnut, kastan, and there is a likelihood that the name may have been a misspelling of kastan [3].

In the 19th century, surnames were taken on by peasants and farmers, the family name signaling a free person [4]. A group of individuals from the village Tärkma, who had previously identified themselves as being from that village, likely took on the name in the 1800s, according to genealogical records [5]. Historian Fred Puss, notes that Estonians often chose their names as a family, at times with the influence of a landlord, sometimes using names of towns, names from books or names of things around them in nature [6]. There is high use of another Estonian surname, Tamm, meaning oak in Estonian, and Kõiv in Võru dialect meaning birch, so it is perhaps not surprising that some Estonians chose to name themselves after the chestnut [7].

There are other alternate spellings of names that likely originated from the word kastan, including, Kastaen, Kastani, Kasten, Kastian, Kastin, Kaston, Kestan, Kasteein, Kasten, Kastin, and Kustein [8][9]. However, most of the individuals using the spelling Kastein can be traced to Hiiumaa "where there are 11.51 of them [Kasteins] per 10,000 inhabitants of the county" [10].

Statistics Estonia indicates that 'as of January 1, 2022, 21 men and 28 women have the surname Kastein. Kastein ranks 5,847th for men and 4,696th for women in terms of surname distribution' [11]. Furthermore, those with the 'surname Kastein are on average 36 years old (median age is 33)...[and it] is most common in the 50-54 age group, with 0.97 per 10,000 inhabitants' [12].

Sources

1. https://www.stat.ee/nimed/?nimi=pere&nimi2=kastein&otsi=search#:~:t....
2. https://www.ra.ee/dgs/addon/nimreg/result.php?s_name=Kastein&c_id=0...
3. https://sonaveeb.ee/search/unif/dlall/dsall/kastan/1
4. https://news.err.ee/1608398000/historian-estonians-picked-their-las...
5. https://news.err.ee/1608398000/historian-estonians-picked-their-las....
6. https://news.err.ee/1608398000/historian-estonians-picked-their-las....
7. https://news.err.ee/1608398000/historian-estonians-picked-their-las....
8. https://www.ra.ee/dgs/addon/nimreg/result.php?s_name=Kastein&c_id=0...
9. https://www.ra.ee/dgs/addon/nimreg/result.php?s_name=Kastan&c_id=0&...
10. https://www.stat.ee/nimed/?nimi=pere&nimi2=kastein&otsi=search#:~:t....
11. https://www.stat.ee/nimed/?nimi=pere&nimi2=kastein&otsi=search#:~:t....
12. https://www.stat.ee/nimed/?nimi=pere&nimi2=kastein&otsi=search#:~:t....