2010
#157,234
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 103
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Kurzen
A German surname derived from the word "kurz" meaning short or small in stature.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 119 Americans carry the last name Kurzen. That puts it at #153,590 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,880,289 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Kurzen 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.
Bearers in the US
119
1 in 2,880,289
Census rank
#153,590
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
104
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 104 bearers of the surname Kurzen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 153590th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Kurzen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Kurzen
The surname Kurzen is of German origin, derived from the Middle High German word "kurz," meaning "short" or "brief." It is believed to have first emerged in the 12th or 13th century as a descriptive nickname for someone of short stature or as a reference to a person's brief temper or speech.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Kurzen can be traced back to various regions of present-day Germany, including Bavaria, Saxony, and the Rhineland. One of the earliest documented bearers of the name was Johannes Kurzen, a merchant who lived in the city of Cologne in the late 13th century.
During the medieval period, the Kurzen name appeared in various records and manuscripts, such as the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, which contains references to individuals with the surname living in Saxony in the 14th and 15th centuries. The name is also found in the Deutsches Familienarchiv, a collection of German family records dating back to the 16th century.
In the 16th century, the surname Kurzen was borne by notable individuals such as Hans Kurzen (c. 1490-1560), a German painter and printmaker known for his woodcuts depicting biblical scenes and religious subjects. Another notable bearer of the name was Johann Kurzen (1555-1629), a German theologian and Reformed pastor who served in the city of Elberfeld (now part of Wuppertal).
Moving into the 17th century, the Kurzen name was associated with places such as Kurzendorf, a village in the region of Thuringia, and Kurzenhausen, a town in Bavaria. One prominent figure from this era was Johann Georg Kurzen (1623-1691), a German jurist and diplomat who served as the chancellor of the Electorate of Saxony.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kurzen surname continued to be found throughout various regions of Germany, with notable bearers including Johann Philipp Kurzen (1737-1805), a German poet and dramatist, and Friedrich Wilhelm Kurzen (1817-1891), a German theologian and writer.
Throughout its history, the surname Kurzen has been associated with various occupations and professions, including merchants, artisans, clergymen, scholars, and artists. While the name may have originated as a descriptive nickname, it has evolved into a distinctive surname with a rich heritage rooted in the German-speaking regions of Europe.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kurzen
Among Census respondents with the surname Kurzen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Kurzen 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 Kurzen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.2% · 98
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Kurzen
Kurzen appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#153,590
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 104
+1 bearers (+1.0%)
Per 100,000 0.03
Rank movement Up 3,644 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #157,234 | 103 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #153,590 | 104 | 0.03 | +1 bearers (+1.0%) | Up 3,644 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 Kurzen 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 | #157,234 | #153,590 | 2.3% |
| Count | 103 | 104 | 1.0% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.03 | 16.0% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Kurzen bearers went from 103 to 104 (+1.0% change). The surname moved up 3,644 positions in the national ranking, going from #157,234 to #153,590.
FAQ
Kurzen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Kurzen?
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the surname Kurzen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,880,289 residents.
How common is Kurzen?
Kurzen ranks #153,590 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.03 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 104 people with the surname Kurzen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (119), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.03 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.03 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Kurzen.
Has Kurzen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Kurzen went from 103 recorded bearers to 104. That is an increase of 1 (+1.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #157,234 to #153,590.
What does the Census say about the background of Kurzen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Kurzen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Kurzen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (98 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Kurzen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.2%), Hispanic (3.8%), Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Kurzen (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 Kurzen mean?
A German surname derived from the word "kurz" meaning short or small in stature. 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 Kurzen (0.03 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 people are called Kurzen?
Want to know how many people have the last name Kurzen? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.