Find out how popular the last name Birken is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Birken.

Birken, 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 Birken surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Birken in America

Birken is the 144141st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Birken surname appeared 115 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 Birken.

We can also compare 2010 data for Birken 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.

The history of the last name Birken

The surname BIRKEN is believed to have originated in Germany, with its earliest known records dating back to the 16th century. The name is thought to be derived from the German word "Birke," which means "birch tree." This suggests that the name may have been initially used to identify individuals who lived near or worked with birch trees.

BIRKEN is a locational surname, meaning it likely referred to a person or family from a specific place or region. It could have been derived from a town or village name containing the word "Birke," such as Birkenau or Birkenfeld, which were common place names in Germany during the Middle Ages.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname BIRKEN can be found in the records of the city of Hamburg, where a certain Hans Birken was mentioned in a document dated 1568. Another early record comes from the town of Hildesheim, where a man named Jost Birken was listed in a census from 1597.

In the 17th century, a notable individual bearing the surname BIRKEN was Sigmund von Birken (1626-1681), a German poet and writer who was born in Wildstein, Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). His works included religious poetry and hymns, as well as plays and satires.

During the 18th century, the BIRKEN surname appeared in various German-speaking regions. One example is Johann Birken (1738-1813), a German composer and organist who was born in Reuchen, Prussia (now part of Poland).

In the 19th century, a prominent figure with the surname BIRKEN was Ernst Birken (1829-1897), a German politician and lawyer who served as a member of the Reichstag (the imperial parliament) from 1871 to 1881.

Another notable individual was Gottfried Birken (1841-1910), a German architect who designed several important buildings in Berlin, including the Reichspatentamt (Imperial Patent Office) and the Reichsversicherungsamt (Imperial Insurance Office).

While the surname BIRKEN is predominantly found in Germany and other German-speaking regions, it has also spread to other parts of the world through migration and immigration. However, the earliest and most significant historical records of the name can be traced back to its German origins and the various individuals who bore this surname throughout the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Birken

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Birken.

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:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Birken was:

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 Birken has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

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 Birken was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Birken, please contact us.

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