Goldhagen last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Goldhagen

A surname of German origin, derived from "Gold" and "Hagen," literally meaning a person from a hagen (village) where gold was found or mined.

Goldhagen, 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 Goldhagen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Goldhagen in America

Goldhagen is the 136449th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Goldhagen surname appeared 123 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 Goldhagen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Goldhagen 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank13644911548916.64%
Count123140-12.93%
Proportion per 100k0.040.05-22.22%

The history of the last name Goldhagen

The surname Goldhagen originated in Germany during the medieval period. It is derived from the Middle High German words "gold" meaning gold and "hagen" meaning hedge or enclosure. The name likely referred to someone who lived near a golden-colored hedge or fence, or possibly a person who worked with gold.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Stadtbücher von Colmar, a collection of municipal records from the city of Colmar in Alsace, France (at the time part of the Holy Roman Empire). In 1382, a "Hensel Goldhagen" is mentioned as a resident.

The Goldhagen name can also be found in various other historical documents from the 14th to 16th centuries, such as tax records, land deeds, and guild registers from various German cities and regions, including Nuremberg, Cologne, and Saxony.

One notable early bearer of the name was Johannes Goldhagen (c. 1450-1510), a German humanist scholar and educator from Saxony. He served as the rector of the famous Latin school in Zwickau and was a respected teacher of many prominent Renaissance figures.

Another individual of note was Hans Goldhagen (1528-1591), a German goldsmith and engraver from Nuremberg. His intricate metalwork and engravings were highly prized and can be found in various museums across Europe.

In the 17th century, a branch of the Goldhagen family migrated to the Netherlands, where the name was sometimes spelled as "Goudenhagen." One member of this branch, Pieter Goudenhagen (1610-1678), was a successful merchant and alderman in Amsterdam.

As the name spread across Europe, various spelling variations emerged, including Goldenhagen, Goldhagen, Goudenhagen, and Goldhahn, among others. Notable bearers of these variants include the German philosopher and philosopher Daniel Goldhahn (1694-1756) and the Dutch painter Dirck Goudenhagen (1619-1691).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Goldhagen

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

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 Goldhagen was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only95.12%117
Non-Hispanic Black Only0.00%0
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races(S)%(S)
Hispanic Origin(S)%(S)

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

20102000Change (%)
White95.12%96.43%-1.37%
Black0.00%0.00%0.00%
Asian and Pacific Islander(S)%(S)%(S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.00%0.00%0.00%
Two or More Races(S)%(S)%(S)%
Hispanic(S)%(S)%(S)%

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

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

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