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

Kangas, 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 Kangas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kangas in America

Kangas is the 7013th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kangas surname appeared 4,776 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Kangas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kangas 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 Kangas

The surname Kangas originated in Finland during the 16th century. It is derived from the Finnish word "kangas," which means "forest" or "heath." This suggests that the earliest bearers of this name likely lived in or near forested areas or heaths.

Kangas is a relatively common surname in Finland, particularly in the central and western regions of the country. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in parish records and tax rolls from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

One notable early reference to the Kangas name is in the Porvoo Court Records from 1623, which mention a man named Matti Kangas who was involved in a property dispute. Additionally, the Turku Cathedral Records from 1647 list the marriage of Jaakko Kangas and Kaarina Juhonintytär.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kangas surname began to spread beyond Finland as members of the family emigrated to other parts of Europe and North America. One prominent Finnish-American bearer of the name was Väinö Alfred Kangas (1886-1957), a businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Ashtabula, Ohio, from 1925 to 1927.

Other notable individuals with the Kangas surname include:

1. Eero Kangas (1906-1987), a Finnish cross-country skier who competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics.
2. Jaakko Kangas (1890-1979), a Finnish politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland from 1946 to 1948.
3. Marianne Kangas (born 1962), a Swedish author and journalist.
4. Teuvo Kangas (1908-1991), a Finnish long-distance runner who won the silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
5. Väinö Kangas (1888-1957), a Finnish-born American businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Ashtabula, Ohio.

While the Kangas surname is most prevalent in Finland and among Finnish diaspora communities, it has also been found in various parts of Europe and North America due to migration and intermarriage over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kangas

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

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

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

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