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

Lehn, 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 Lehn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lehn in America

Lehn is the 18877th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lehn surname appeared 1,448 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Lehn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lehn 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 Lehn

The surname Lehn has its origins in Germany, with records dating back to the early 16th century. It is derived from the Old German word "lehne," which means "slope" or "hillside." This suggests that the name may have initially been given to someone who lived on or near a slope or hillside.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lehn appears in the Kirchenbücher (church records) of the village of Mühlhausen, located in the state of Thuringia, Germany. In these records, a man named Hans Lehn is listed as a resident in the year 1538.

The name Lehn can also be found in various historical documents from other regions of Germany, such as the Ortsfamilienbücher (local family books) of the town of Niederkirchen in Rhineland-Palatinate, where a family with the surname Lehn is mentioned in the late 17th century.

In terms of notable individuals with the surname Lehn, one of the earliest was Johann Michael Lehn, a German composer and organist who lived from 1629 to 1699. He served as the court organist in Wolfenbüttel and composed several religious works.

Another significant figure was the chemist Jean-Marie Lehn, who was born in 1939 in Rosheim, France. Lehn won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987 for his work on the synthesis of cryptands, which are molecules that can selectively bind other molecules. He is considered a pioneer in the field of supramolecular chemistry.

In the literary world, Jürgen Lehn was a German author and playwright who lived from 1929 to 2005. He is best known for his plays and novels that explored social and political themes in post-war Germany.

The surname Lehn has also been associated with several places in Germany. For instance, the village of Lehn in the state of Hesse was first mentioned in historical records in the year 1361, suggesting that the name may have been derived from this particular location.

Other notable individuals with the surname Lehn include the German actor and director Reinhard Lehn (1908-1985), the American architect and designer Clarence Lehn (1907-1992), and the German philosopher and theologian Johann Michael Lehn (1703-1777).

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lehn

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

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

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

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