2000
#2,072
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,036
First available Census row
Per 100,000 5.94
Uncommon Last name
Jansen
A patronymic surname of Dutch origin meaning "son of Jan" (a diminutive of Johannes) or "son of John."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 18,801 Americans carry the last name Jansen. That puts it at #2,157 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 5.49 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 18,231 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Jansen surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Jansen with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
19K
1 in 18,231
Census rank
#2,157
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
5.5
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
16K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 16,395 bearers of the surname Jansen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 5.49 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2157th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Jansen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Jansen
The surname Jansen is of Dutch origin, derived from the patronymic "Jan's son" or "son of Jan". It is a common surname in the Netherlands and parts of Belgium, with roots dating back to the medieval period.
Jansen is believed to have emerged as a surname in the 13th or 14th century, as the practice of adopting hereditary surnames became more widespread in the Low Countries. The name likely originated from the popular Dutch given name Jan, a variant of the biblical name John.
One of the earliest known references to the name Jansen can be found in the records of the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, where a Gerrit Jansen was mentioned in a document dated 1359. Other early examples include Pieter Jansen, recorded in Amsterdam in 1424, and Cornelis Jansen, a Catholic theologian born in 1585 in the village of Accoy.
In the 16th century, the Jansen surname appeared in various historical records and manuscripts, such as the parish registers of the Dutch Reformed Church. During this period, the name was often spelled with variations like Jansz, Janssen, or Janssens.
Notable individuals with the surname Jansen throughout history include:
1. Cornelis Jansen (1585-1638), a Dutch Catholic bishop and theologian who founded the religious movement known as Jansenism.
2. Zacharias Jansen (1588-1638), a Dutch inventor and spectacle-maker, credited with the invention of the first compound microscope.
3. Vincent Jansen (1590-1642), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his still-life works.
4. Pieter Jansen Saenredam (1597-1665), a Dutch Golden Age painter renowned for his architectural paintings of church interiors.
5. Justus Jansen (1743-1835), a Dutch-American farmer and soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Many place names in the Netherlands and Belgium have been influenced by the Jansen surname, such as Janskerkhof (literally "Jan's churchyard") in Utrecht and Jansenville, a town in South Africa founded by Dutch settlers with the Jansen surname.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jansen
Among Census respondents with the surname Jansen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (3.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Jansen bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Jansen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.9% · 14,907
- Two or more races3.3% · 538
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 518
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 185
- Black or African American1.0% · 167
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 80
Timeline
Historical Census data for Jansen
Jansen appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,189
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,596
+560 bearers (+3.5%)
Per 100,000 5.63
Rank movement Down 117 places
2020
#2,157
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 16,395
-201 bearers (-1.2%)
Per 100,000 5.49
Rank movement Up 32 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,072 | 16,036 | 5.94 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,189 | 16,596 | 5.63 | +560 bearers (+3.5%) | Down 117 places |
| 2020 | #2,157 | 16,395 | 5.49 | -201 bearers (-1.2%) | Up 32 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Jansen surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,189 | #2,157 | 1.5% |
| Count | 16,596 | 16,395 | -1.2% |
| Per 100K | 5.63 | 5.49 | -2.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Jansen bearers went from 16,596 to 16,395 (-1.2% change). The surname moved up 32 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,189 to #2,157.
FAQ
Jansen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Jansen?
Name Census estimates that about 18,801 living Americans carry the surname Jansen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 18,231 residents.
How common is Jansen?
Jansen ranks #2,157 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 5.49 per 100,000 residents, which is about 5 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 16,395 people with the surname Jansen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (18,801), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 5.49 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 5.49 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 5 of them to have the surname Jansen.
Has Jansen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Jansen went from 16,596 recorded bearers to 16,395. That is a decrease of 201 (-1.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #2,189 to #2,157.
What does the Census say about the background of Jansen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Jansen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.3%) and Hispanic (3.2%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Jansen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.9% (14,907 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Jansen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.9%), Two or More Races (3.3%), Hispanic (3.2%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Jansen (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Jansen mean?
A patronymic surname of Dutch origin meaning "son of Jan" (a diminutive of Johannes) or "son of John." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Jansen (5.49 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Jansen?
Find out how many people have the surname Jansen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.