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

Gehlen, 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 Gehlen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Gehlen in America

Gehlen is the 73005th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Gehlen surname appeared 266 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 Gehlen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Gehlen 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 Gehlen

The surname Gehlen is of German origin and is believed to have originated in the 16th century. It is derived from the Low German word "gehle," which means "yellowish" or "pale." This suggests that the name may have been initially used as a nickname for someone with a pale or sickly complexion.

The name Gehlen first appeared in various records in the regions of Westphalia and Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It is also found in some historical documents from the 17th and 18th centuries, although specific references are scarce.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gehlen is from the late 16th century, when a man named Hans Gehlen was mentioned in a church register from the town of Osnabrück, located in Lower Saxony. Another early record comes from the 17th century, when a Johannes Gehlen was listed as a resident of the city of Münster in Westphalia.

In the 18th century, a notable bearer of the name was Johann Gehlen, a German chemist and mineralogist who lived from 1775 to 1815. He is known for his contributions to the study of analytical chemistry and for discovering several new elements, including chromium and beryllium.

Another individual with the surname Gehlen who gained prominence was Reinhard Gehlen, a German military intelligence officer who lived from 1902 to 1979. He played a significant role in the establishment of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the foreign intelligence agency of West Germany, after World War II.

In the 19th century, a man named Friedrich Gehlen, born in 1835 and died in 1905, was a renowned German architect who designed several notable buildings in Berlin, including the Reichstag building and the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).

While the name Gehlen is not as common as some other German surnames, it has a long and interesting history, with various individuals bearing this name having made significant contributions in fields such as science, architecture, and intelligence.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Gehlen

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

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

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

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