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

Detten, 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 Detten surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Detten in America

Detten is the 122314th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Detten surname appeared 141 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 Detten.

We can also compare 2010 data for Detten 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 Detten

The surname Detten is believed to have originated in the Netherlands, specifically in the region of Friesland. The name is derived from the Dutch word "detten," which means "to stop" or "to halt." It is thought to have been originally used as a descriptive surname for someone who lived near a dam or a sluice gate, where the flow of water was controlled.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Detten can be found in the Frisian town of Bolsward, where a Douwe Detten is mentioned in the town records from the late 16th century. The name also appears in various other Dutch and Frisian records from the 17th and 18th centuries, often spelled as Detten, Dettens, or Dettingsma.

In the early 19th century, a notable figure with the surname Detten was Joannes Detten, a Dutch painter and engraver who was born in 1787 in Dordrecht. His works are preserved in several museums in the Netherlands.

Another prominent individual with the name Detten was Pieter Detten, a Dutch politician who served as the mayor of the city of Leeuwarden from 1876 to 1889.

In the late 19th century, a branch of the Detten family emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States, settling in the Midwestern states of Iowa and Illinois. One of the first recorded instances of the name in the US is Jacob Detten, who was born in 1842 in Friesland and later emigrated to Iowa in the 1870s.

Another notable figure with the surname Detten was Gerrit Detten, a Dutch-American farmer and businessman who was born in 1856 in Friesland and later settled in Iowa in the late 1800s. He was a prominent figure in the local Dutch community and played a role in establishing several Dutch Reformed churches in the area.

Over time, the surname Detten has spread to other parts of the world, including Canada, Australia, and South Africa, likely through immigration from the Netherlands or the United States.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Detten

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

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

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

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