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

Kuhn, 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 Kuhn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kuhn in America

Kuhn is the 1102nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kuhn surname appeared 31,776 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 11 people would have the surname Kuhn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kuhn 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 Kuhn

The surname Kuhn originated in Germany, where it first appeared around the 12th century. It is derived from the German word "kühn," meaning "bold" or "brave." This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who displayed such qualities.

The earliest recorded instances of the name come from various regions of Germany, including Bavaria, Württemberg, and Saxony. In medieval times, the name was often spelled as "Kühn" or "Kuhn," reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling.

One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Codex Traditionum Monasterii Sancti Petri Salisburgensis, a 12th-century manuscript from the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter in Salzburg. This document mentions a person named "Chunradus Kuhn" in the year 1186.

Another notable historical figure bearing this surname was Johann Kuhn (1587-1668), a German composer and organist who served at the court of the Elector of Saxony. He is considered one of the most important composers of the early Baroque period in Germany.

In the 18th century, Johann Nepomuk Kuhn (1702-1784) was a renowned Bavarian sculptor and wood carver. His intricate works can be found in various churches and monasteries throughout Bavaria.

The name Kuhn has also been linked to various place names in Germany, such as Kuhnhausen, a village in Thuringia, and Kuhnsdorf, a town in Saxony-Anhalt. These place names likely derived from the surname itself, further reinforcing its historical roots in the region.

Another noteworthy figure was the philosopher and physicist Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996), known for his influential work "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions." He challenged the traditional view of scientific progress and introduced the concept of "paradigm shifts."

Lastly, the Kuhn family has produced several notable individuals throughout history, including the American baseball player Rick Kuhn (1946-2018), who played for the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers in the 1970s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kuhn

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

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

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

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