Find out how popular the last name Ahlen is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ahlen.
Derived from a place name, referring to someone who lived in a town or village called Ahlen.
Ahlen, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ahlen surname is from the 2010 census data.
Ahlen is the 126765th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Ahlen surname appeared 135 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Ahlen.
We can also compare 2010 data for Ahlen to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 126765 | 117538 | 7.55% |
| Count | 135 | 137 | -1.47% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.00% |
The surname Ahlen is of German origin, originating in the 14th century in the region of Westphalia, located in the northwestern part of present-day Germany. The name is derived from the town of Ahlen, which likely stems from the Old Saxon word "aha," meaning water or stream, possibly referring to a nearby body of water.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ahlen can be found in the Westphalian Feud Register, a historical document dating back to the 15th century, which documented disputes and conflicts among noble families in the region. This suggests that the surname may have initially been associated with nobility or landowners in the area.
In the 16th century, the name Ahlen appears in the records of the city of Münster, located near the town of Ahlen, indicating the presence of families with this surname in the larger urban centers of Westphalia during that time period.
Notable individuals with the surname Ahlen include Johann Ahlen, a prominent German theologian and author who lived from 1592 to 1659, and contributed to the development of Lutheran theology during the Protestant Reformation. Another figure of note is Gerhard Ahlen, a 17th-century German painter known for his religious artworks, who was active in the city of Hamburg between 1630 and 1668.
In the 18th century, the name Ahlen can be found in the records of the town of Ahlen itself, as well as in nearby villages such as Dolberg and Wolbeck, suggesting the continued presence of families with this surname in the region. One notable individual from this period is Johann Friedrich Ahlen, a German composer and organist born in Ahlen in 1728, who contributed to the development of church music in the region.
Moving into the 19th century, the surname Ahlen began to spread more widely throughout Germany, with individuals bearing this name appearing in records from various regions, including Saxony and Bavaria. During this period, Hermann Ahlen, a German industrialist and entrepreneur born in 1835, established a successful textile manufacturing business in the city of Aachen.
Throughout its history, the surname Ahlen has maintained strong ties to its geographical origins in the Westphalia region of Germany, with many families bearing this name continuing to reside in the area surrounding the town of Ahlen itself.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ahlen.
The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ahlen was:
| Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic White Only | 95.56% | 129 |
| Non-Hispanic Black Only | 0.00% | 0 |
| Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | (S)% | (S) |
| Hispanic Origin | (S)% | (S) |
Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.
Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ahlen has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 95.56% | 94.16% | 1.48% |
| Black | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | 0.00% | (S)% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
| Two or More Races | (S)% | 3.65% | (S)% |
| Hispanic | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.
The history and meaning of the name Ahlen was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
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