2010
#158,432
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Clooten
A Scottish surname derived from a place name referring to a prominent hillside or cliff.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 128 Americans carry the last name Clooten. That puts it at #147,954 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,677,768 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Clooten 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
128
1 in 2,677,768
Census rank
#147,954
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Clooten in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147954th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Clooten, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.3%) and Two or More Races (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Clooten
The surname Clooten originated in the Netherlands, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the Dutch word "kloot," which means "ball" or "sphere." This could potentially be a reference to a physical characteristic or occupation of the earliest bearers of the name.
One of the earliest known references to the Clooten name can be found in the records of Delft, a city in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. In 1587, a merchant named Pieter Clooten is mentioned in a trade document.
During the 17th century, the Clooten name began to spread across the Netherlands and into neighboring regions. In 1643, a record exists of a Jan Clooten who was a resident of Antwerp, Belgium.
The Clooten surname has also been associated with various place names in the Netherlands. For instance, there is a village called Clootenvijver in the municipality of Lingewaard, which may have served as a source for the name.
Notable individuals with the Clooten surname include:
1. Dirck Clooten (1618-1677), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his still-life and genre paintings.
2. Herman Clooten (1768-1844), a Dutch politician and lawyer who served as the Mayor of Amsterdam from 1814 to 1824.
3. Adriana Clooten (1794-1878), a Dutch writer and poet who published several collections of poetry and prose during the 19th century.
4. Gerrit Clooten (1829-1903), a Dutch engineer and entrepreneur who founded the Clooten Engineering Company in Rotterdam.
5. Willem Clooten (1870-1942), a Dutch architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands.
While the Clooten name has its origins in the Netherlands, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through migration and cultural exchange. However, the earliest and most significant historical references to this surname can be traced back to the Low Countries region of Europe.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Clooten
Among Census respondents with the surname Clooten, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.3%) and Two or More Races (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Clooten 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 Clooten surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.1% · 102
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 7
- Two or more races1.8% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Clooten
Clooten appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#147,954
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 112
+10 bearers (+9.8%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 10,478 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #158,432 | 102 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #147,954 | 112 | 0.04 | +10 bearers (+9.8%) | Up 10,478 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 Clooten 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 | #158,432 | #147,954 | 6.6% |
| Count | 102 | 112 | 9.8% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 24.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Clooten bearers went from 102 to 112 (+9.8% change). The surname moved up 10,478 positions in the national ranking, going from #158,432 to #147,954.
FAQ
Clooten surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Clooten?
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the surname Clooten. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,677,768 residents.
How common is Clooten?
Clooten ranks #147,954 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 112 people with the surname Clooten. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (128), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Clooten.
Has Clooten become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Clooten went from 102 recorded bearers to 112. That is an increase of 10 (+9.8%). In the national ranking it rose from #158,432 to #147,954.
What does the Census say about the background of Clooten?
Among Census respondents with the surname Clooten, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.3%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Clooten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (102 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Clooten appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.1%), Hispanic (6.3%), Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Clooten (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 Clooten mean?
A Scottish surname derived from a place name referring to a prominent hillside or cliff. 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 Clooten (0.04 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 Americans have the surname Clooten?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.