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

Klassen, 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 Klassen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Klassen in America

Klassen is the 8121st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Klassen surname appeared 4,084 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 Klassen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Klassen 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 Klassen

The surname Klassen is of German origin, deriving from the Low German word "klas" or "klaas," which was a diminutive form of the personal name Nicholas. The name can be traced back to the 14th century in parts of northern Germany and the Netherlands.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Klassen appears in a 1387 census record from the city of Hamburg, where a certain Claus Klassen is listed as a merchant. In the 15th century, there are records of a Hinrich Klassen who was a landowner in the region of East Frisia, near the modern-day border between Germany and the Netherlands.

Variations of the spelling, such as Klaasen, Claassen, and Claasen, were common in different areas of northern Germany and the Low Countries during the medieval and early modern periods. The name was also sometimes associated with specific place names, such as Klaasen von Emden or Klassen van Leeuwarden.

In the 16th century, a notable figure with the surname Klassen was Pieter Klassen (c. 1505-1580), a Dutch Anabaptist leader who was active in the northern Netherlands during the Reformation. He was a follower of Menno Simons and helped establish Mennonite communities in Friesland and Groningen.

Another historical figure with the name was Johann Klassen (1684-1751), a German composer and organist who was born in Nuremberg and worked in various churches and courts in Germany during the Baroque period.

In the 19th century, a significant number of individuals with the surname Klassen emigrated from Germany and the Netherlands to Russia, where they established Mennonite settlements in areas such as the Chortitza region and the Molotschna colony. One prominent member of these communities was Bernhard Klassen (1827-1906), a Mennonite minister and leader who played a role in the migration of Mennonites from Russia to North America in the 1870s.

Other notable individuals with the surname Klassen include Peter P. Klassen (1837-1922), a Mennonite pioneer and minister who helped establish communities in Manitoba, Canada, and Franz Klassen (1913-1989), a German-Canadian writer and journalist who worked for publications such as Der Bund and the Winnipeg Free Press.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Klassen

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

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

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

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