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

Heinssen, 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 Heinssen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Heinssen in America

Heinssen is the 159712th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Heinssen surname appeared 101 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 Heinssen.

The history of the last name Heinssen

The surname HEINSSEN is of German origin and can be traced back to the late medieval period in the regions of northern Germany and the Low Countries. It is believed to be a variant spelling of the name Heinsen or Heinsohn, which derived from the personal name Heino, a diminutive form of the Germanic name Hein. The name Hein itself is a short form of names beginning with the element "hagan," meaning "hawthorn" or "enclosure."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name HEINSSEN appeared in a German genealogical record from the town of Emden in East Frisia, dated around 1450. The entry referred to a certain Henrich Heinssen, a merchant and landowner in the region. Another early mention was found in a 16th-century church register from the city of Bremen, which listed a Johann Heinssen among the baptismal records.

In the 17th century, the name HEINSSEN was found in various historical documents from the Dutch Republic, particularly in the regions of Holland and Friesland. One notable figure was Dirck Heinssen, a wealthy merchant from Amsterdam who was born in 1625 and became involved in the Dutch East India Company's trade with the East Indies.

The surname HEINSSEN also appeared in several German-speaking areas during this period, including the Duchy of Holstein, where a Hans Heinssen was recorded as a landowner and farmer in a land registry from 1698. In the nearby city of Lübeck, a family by the name of Heinssen was prominent in the local guilds and trade associations in the late 1600s.

As people began to migrate and settle in different parts of Europe and beyond, the name HEINSSEN spread to other regions. In the 18th century, a Johann Heinssen was documented as a watchmaker in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, while another individual named Wilhelm Heinssen was a teacher and scholar in the University of Greifswald in northern Germany during the same period.

Over the centuries, various notable individuals have borne the surname HEINSSEN, including the German philosopher and theologian Heinrich Heinssen (1801-1880), the Dutch painter and illustrator Pieter Heinssen (1825-1892), and the Norwegian architect and engineer Olaf Heinssen (1865-1942).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Heinssen

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

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 Heinssen 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.

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

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

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