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

Kohn, 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 Kohn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kohn in America

Kohn is the 3673rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kohn surname appeared 9,701 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Kohn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kohn 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 Kohn

The surname KOHN has its origins in the German and Jewish communities of Central Europe, particularly in the regions of modern-day Germany, Austria, and neighboring areas. It is believed to have emerged as a surname in the late Middle Ages or early modern period, around the 15th to 17th centuries.

The name KOHN is derived from the Hebrew personal name Kohen, which means "priest" or "descendant of the priestly caste." This suggests that the surname may have initially been adopted by families descended from the ancient priestly lineage of the Israelites. Over time, the name evolved into various spellings, including Kohn, Cohn, Kahan, and others, as it spread across different regions and languages.

One of the earliest known references to the surname KOHN can be found in the records of the Jewish community of Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic, dating back to the 16th century. The name appears in documents related to Jewish residents and families in the city during that time period.

Notable individuals with the surname KOHN throughout history include Moses Kohn (1752-1817), a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist; Salomon Kohn (1825-1904), an Austrian composer and conductor; Gustav Kohn (1859-1938), an Austrian writer and journalist; and Harry Kohn (1887-1967), an American philosopher and historian of Zionism.

Another prominent figure with this surname was Ferdinand Kohn (1917-2001), an Austrian-American physicist who made significant contributions to the field of solid-state physics. He was born in Vienna and later immigrated to the United States, where he worked at various prestigious institutions, including the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

As the name KOHN spread across Europe and beyond, variations and alternative spellings emerged, often reflecting local linguistic and cultural influences. For instance, in parts of Eastern Europe, the name may have been rendered as Cohen or Kohen, closer to its Hebrew roots.

It is worth noting that the surname KOHN was not limited to Jewish communities but was also adopted by some non-Jewish families, particularly in areas with significant Jewish populations or cultural influences.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kohn

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!