2000
#4,561
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,139
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.65
Rare Last name
Kuehn
A German occupational surname referring to a person who worked as a daring or bold man.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,993 Americans carry the last name Kuehn. That puts it at #4,906 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.33 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 42,882 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kuehn 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.
Bearers in the US
8.0K
1 in 42,882
Census rank
#4,906
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
7.0K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,970 bearers of the surname Kuehn in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.33 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4906th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kuehn, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kuehn
The surname Kuehn originated in Germany, specifically in the regions of Saxony and Brandenburg. It first appeared in records dating back to the 13th century. The name is derived from the Old German word "kuene," which means "bold" or "brave." It was likely given as a descriptive name to someone with a courageous or daring personality.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Kuehn surname can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of medieval documents from Saxony, where a person named "Conradus Kuene" was mentioned in 1285. The name was also found in the Heidelberg Tax Records of 1391, where a "Heynrich Kuen" was listed as a resident.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name spread to other parts of Germany, and variations in spelling emerged, such as Kuhn, Kühn, and Kuehn. In the Württemberg Church Records of 1581, a "Hans Kuhn" was recorded as a father of twins.
Notable individuals with the surname Kuehn throughout history include Johann Kuhn (1698-1781), a prominent German astronomer and mathematician. He made significant contributions to the study of comets and was a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Another notable figure was Friedrich Kuehn (1820-1885), a German philologist and educator who published works on Greek and Latin literature.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Kuehn can be traced back to Johann Adam Kuehn, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1752 from the Palatinate region of Germany. His descendants settled in various parts of the country, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois.
Other notable individuals with the surname Kuehn include Wilhelm Kuehn (1820-1887), a German-American architect who designed several significant buildings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the late 19th century. John Kuehn (1895-1971) was an American lawyer and judge who served as a justice on the Wyoming Supreme Court from 1953 to 1971.
The Kuehn surname has also been associated with various place names, such as Kuhnhausen, a village in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and Kuhnsdorf, a municipality in Brandenburg, Germany. These place names likely derived from individuals with the Kuehn surname who once lived or owned land in those areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kuehn
Among Census respondents with the surname Kuehn, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Kuehn 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 Kuehn surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.8% · 6,465
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 202
- Two or more races2.9% · 200
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 48
- Black or African American0.4% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 27
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kuehn
Kuehn 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
#4,905
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 7,181
+42 bearers (+0.6%)
Per 100,000 2.43
Rank movement Down 344 places
2020
#4,906
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,970
-211 bearers (-2.9%)
Per 100,000 2.33
Rank movement Down 1 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #4,561 | 7,139 | 2.65 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #4,905 | 7,181 | 2.43 | +42 bearers (+0.6%) | Down 344 places |
| 2020 | #4,906 | 6,970 | 2.33 | -211 bearers (-2.9%) | Down 1 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 Kuehn 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 | #4,905 | #4,906 | -0.0% |
| Count | 7,181 | 6,970 | -2.9% |
| Per 100K | 2.43 | 2.33 | -4.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kuehn bearers went from 7,181 to 6,970 (-2.9% change). The surname moved down 1 positions in the national ranking, going from #4,905 to #4,906.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Kuehn
FAQ
Kuehn surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kuehn?
Name Census estimates that about 7,993 living Americans carry the surname Kuehn. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 42,882 residents.
How common is Kuehn?
Kuehn ranks #4,906 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.33 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,970 people with the surname Kuehn. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,993), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.33 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.33 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Kuehn.
Has Kuehn become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kuehn went from 7,181 recorded bearers to 6,970. That is a decrease of 211 (-2.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #4,905 to #4,906.
What does the Census say about the background of Kuehn?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kuehn, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Kuehn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.8% (6,465 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kuehn appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.8%), Hispanic (2.9%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Kuehn (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 Kuehn mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a person who worked as a daring or bold man. 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 Kuehn (2.33 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 common is the surname Kuehn?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the last name Kuehn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.