2000
#1,053
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 30,342
First available Census row
Per 100,000 11.25
Uncommon Last name
Kuhn
A German occupational surname referring to a daring, bold, or audacious person.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 34,910 Americans carry the last name Kuhn. That puts it at #1,129 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 10.19 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 9,818 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kuhn surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Kuhn with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
35K
1 in 9,818
Census rank
#1,129
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
10.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
30K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 30,443 bearers of the surname Kuhn in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 10.19 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 1129th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kuhn, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of 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.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kuhn
Among Census respondents with the surname Kuhn, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Kuhn bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Kuhn surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 28,112
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 986
- Two or more races2.8% · 854
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 228
- Black or African American0.6% · 188
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 75
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kuhn
Kuhn appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#1,102
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 31,776
+1,434 bearers (+4.7%)
Per 100,000 10.77
Rank movement Down 49 places
2020
#1,129
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 30,443
-1,333 bearers (-4.2%)
Per 100,000 10.19
Rank movement Down 27 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #1,053 | 30,342 | 11.25 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #1,102 | 31,776 | 10.77 | +1,434 bearers (+4.7%) | Down 49 places |
| 2020 | #1,129 | 30,443 | 10.19 | -1,333 bearers (-4.2%) | Down 27 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Kuhn surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #1,102 | #1,129 | -2.5% |
| Count | 31,776 | 30,443 | -4.2% |
| Per 100K | 10.77 | 10.19 | -5.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kuhn bearers went from 31,776 to 30,443 (-4.2% change). The surname moved down 27 positions in the national ranking, going from #1,102 to #1,129.
FAQ
Kuhn surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kuhn?
Name Census estimates that about 34,910 living Americans carry the surname Kuhn. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 9,818 residents.
How common is Kuhn?
Kuhn ranks #1,129 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 10.19 per 100,000 residents, which is about 10 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 30,443 people with the surname Kuhn. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (34,910), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 10.19 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 10.19 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 10 of them to have the surname Kuhn.
Has Kuhn become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kuhn went from 31,776 recorded bearers to 30,443. That is a decrease of 1,333 (-4.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #1,102 to #1,129.
What does the Census say about the background of Kuhn?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kuhn, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.2%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Kuhn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (28,112 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kuhn appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (3.2%), Two or More Races (2.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Kuhn (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Kuhn mean?
A German occupational surname referring to a daring, bold, or audacious person. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Kuhn (10.19 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Kuhn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.