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

Kagan, 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 Kagan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kagan in America

Kagan is the 10891st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kagan surname appeared 2,925 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Kagan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kagan 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 Kagan

The surname Kagan has its origins in the Turkish and Mongolian languages, tracing back to the Khagan title used by the rulers of nomadic Turkic and Mongolian tribes in Central Asia during the medieval period. The word "Khagan" is derived from the Old Turkic "Kağan" or "Qaghan," meaning "Khan of Khans" or "Great Khan."

The Kagan surname is believed to have emerged among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, particularly in Poland, Ukraine, and Russia, where Jewish families often adopted surnames based on their occupations, locations, or personal characteristics. It is possible that the name Kagan was initially adopted by individuals or families with connections to the Khagan title or Central Asian regions.

Historical records indicate that the Kagan surname appears in various manuscripts and documents from the 16th century onwards. One notable example is the mention of the Kagan family in the Metrical Register of the Kahal Kadosh of Lublin, Poland, dated 1564-1569.

Among the earliest recorded individuals with the Kagan surname is Yehuda Leib Kagan, a prominent Talmudic scholar and author who lived in the late 18th century in Vilna, Lithuania. Another notable figure is David Kagan, a 19th-century Hebrew writer and poet from Galicia, a historical region spanning parts of modern-day Poland and Ukraine.

Throughout history, several individuals with the Kagan surname have made significant contributions in various fields. These include:

1. Yisroel Meir Kagan (1838-1933), also known as the Chofetz Chaim, a renowned Talmudic scholar and author from Belarus.
2. Joseph Kagan (1858-1937), a Russian-American banker and philanthropist who helped establish the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
3. Solomon Kagan (1858-1925), a prominent Zionist leader and writer from Lithuania.
4. Velvel Kagan (1885-1971), a Yiddish writer and educator from Ukraine.
5. Matvey Petrovich Kagan (1888-1937), a Soviet physicist and professor at Moscow State University.

The surname Kagan has also been associated with various place names and locations, such as the town of Kaganovichi in Belarus, which may have derived its name from the Kagan surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kagan

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

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

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

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