Malen last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Malen

A geographical name derived from Spanish and referring to someone residing near a mill or mill town.

Malen, 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 Malen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Malen in America

Malen is the 66553rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Malen surname appeared 297 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 Malen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Malen 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.

20102000Change (%)
Rank665535976910.74%
Count297316-6.20%
Proportion per 100k0.100.12-18.18%

The history of the last name Malen

The surname MALEN originated in the Low Countries, specifically in regions like present-day Belgium and the Netherlands, during the late medieval period. It likely derived from the Old Dutch word "malen," meaning "to grind" or "to mill," suggesting a connection to occupations involving milling or grinding grains.

One of the earliest known records of the name MALEN can be found in the Oorkondenboek van Holland en Zeeland, a collection of charters and documents from the 13th century, where a person named Heynric Malen is mentioned in a document dated 1274.

In the 14th century, the MALEN surname appeared in various records across the Low Countries, including the Brabantsche Yeesten, a chronicle of the Duchy of Brabant. A notable individual was Jan Malen, a prominent landowner and merchant from Antwerp, who lived around 1350.

During the Renaissance period, the MALEN name gained prominence in the arts and literature. One of the most famous bearers was Adam de Malen (c. 1510-1590), a Dutch humanist, poet, and translator known for his Latin translations of ancient Greek works.

As the Dutch established colonies in the Americas and other parts of the world, the MALEN surname spread to different regions. For instance, Pieter Malen (1620-1679) was a Dutch settler and trader who founded a settlement in present-day New Jersey, United States.

In the 18th century, the MALEN surname appeared in various European records, such as the Prussian census of 1776, where a family named Malen was recorded in the town of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia).

Another notable figure was Johann Baptist Malen (1752-1828), an Austrian painter and engraver known for his landscapes and religious works. He was a member of the prestigious Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.

As people migrated and settled in different parts of the world, the spelling of the surname evolved, leading to variations like Malin, Mallin, and Mallon. However, the MALEN form remains the most prevalent, particularly in regions with Dutch and Belgian cultural influences.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Malen

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

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 Malen was:

Race/EthnicityPercentageTotal Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only90.57%269
Non-Hispanic Black Only2.02%6
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native(S)%(S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races3.03%9
Hispanic Origin3.37%10

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 Malen has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

20102000Change (%)
White90.57%97.15%-7.01%
Black2.02%(S)%(S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander(S)%0.00%(S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native(S)%(S)%(S)%
Two or More Races3.03%1.58%62.91%
Hispanic3.37%0.00%200.00%

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

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

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