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

Katan, 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 Katan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Katan in America

Katan is the 79598th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Katan surname appeared 239 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 Katan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Katan 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 Katan

The surname KATAN is of Hebrew origin, derived from the Hebrew word "katan" meaning "small" or "little." It is believed to have originated as a descriptive name, likely referring to a person's physical stature or potentially their social status.

The earliest known record of the KATAN surname dates back to the 16th century in Eastern Europe, particularly in areas with significant Jewish populations such as Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. The name appears in various historical records and manuscripts from that time period, often with slight variations in spelling, such as Kattan, Katan, or Katan.

One notable historical reference to the KATAN surname can be found in the "Pinkas HaKehillot" (Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities), which documents Jewish communities in Poland and Russia. This work mentions several individuals with the KATAN surname living in various towns and cities during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The KATAN surname has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest recorded was Rabbi Yosef KATAN, a prominent scholar and author who lived in the late 16th century in Cracow, Poland. Another was Yitzhak KATAN, a merchant and community leader who resided in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in the early 18th century.

Other notable bearers of the KATAN surname include:

1. Zvi KATAN (1884-1976), an Israeli writer and poet born in Ukraine.
2. Yitzhak KATAN (1909-1997), an Israeli actor and director, born in Poland.
3. Nissim KATAN (1924-2018), an Israeli politician and member of the Knesset, born in Iraq.
4. Gershon KATAN (1901-1989), an Israeli architect and urban planner, born in Poland.
5. Yisrael Meir KATAN (1924-1998), an Israeli rabbi and Talmudic scholar, born in Hungary.

The KATAN surname has also been associated with various place names, particularly in Eastern Europe, where variations of the name were used to identify individuals from specific towns or regions. For example, the surname "Katanski" may have originated from individuals hailing from the town of Katan or a similar-sounding place name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Katan

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

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

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

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