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

Flaten, 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 Flaten surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Flaten in America

Flaten is the 23920th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Flaten surname appeared 1,055 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 Flaten.

We can also compare 2010 data for Flaten 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 Flaten

The surname Flaten originates from Norway and is believed to have derived from the Old Norse word "flatr," meaning flat or level. This name likely originated as a descriptive term for someone who lived near a flat or level area of land.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Flaten can be found in the Norwegian Census Records from the late 16th century, where it appears as "Flaten" and variations such as "Fladten" and "Flathen." These early records suggest that the name was primarily concentrated in the western and central regions of Norway.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Flaten began to appear in various parish records and legal documents across Norway. One notable example is Nils Flaten, a farmer born in 1687 in the Voss region of Norway, who was involved in a legal dispute over land ownership in the early 1700s.

In the 19th century, the name Flaten gained more prominence, and several individuals bearing this surname made their mark in various fields. Hans Flaten (1824-1898), a Norwegian politician and member of the Storting (the Norwegian parliament), was a prominent figure during this time.

As Norwegian immigrants began settling in the United States and other parts of the world, the surname Flaten traveled with them. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in the United States is that of Ole Flaten, who immigrated from Norway to Wisconsin in the 1850s and became a successful farmer.

Other notable individuals with the surname Flaten include:

1. Nils Flaten (1801-1879), a Norwegian farmer and local politician in Voss.
2. Ingeborg Flaten (1870-1945), a Norwegian-American writer and educator who published several books on Norwegian culture and language.
3. Knut Flaten (1903-1983), a Norwegian painter and artist known for his landscapes and portraiture.
4. Lars Flaten (1936-2008), a Norwegian jazz musician and composer who played with various jazz ensembles throughout his career.
5. Gro Flaten (born 1958), a Norwegian politician and member of the Storting, representing the Labour Party.

While the surname Flaten has its roots in Norway, it has since spread to other parts of the world through immigration and continues to be a part of many family histories and cultural traditions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Flaten

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

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

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

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