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

Persohn, 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 Persohn surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Persohn in America

Persohn is the 93125th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Persohn surname appeared 197 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 Persohn.

We can also compare 2010 data for Persohn 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 Persohn

The surname Persohn has its origins in Germany, with records dating back to the 16th century. It is believed to have derived from the German words "per" meaning "through" and "sohn" meaning "son", suggesting it may have initially referred to someone who was a traveler or a wanderer.

One of the earliest known mentions of the name appears in a registry of births in the town of Dortmund in 1578, where a child named Hans Persohn was recorded. The name also surfaced in various church records and municipal documents throughout the 17th and 18th centuries in other regions of Germany, including Bavaria and Saxony.

In the 19th century, several notable individuals bearing the surname Persohn emerged. Johann Persohn (1801-1870), a German theologian and philosopher, wrote extensively on ethics and moral philosophy. His contemporary, Wilhelm Persohn (1819-1887), was a renowned painter and art educator who founded one of the first art schools in Berlin.

Another prominent figure was Friedrich Persohn (1845-1920), a German industrialist who pioneered the use of steel in construction and established several successful engineering firms. His nephew, Ernst Persohn (1878-1945), followed in his footsteps and became a respected civil engineer, responsible for designing several iconic bridges and railways across Europe.

The name also appeared in historical records outside of Germany. In the late 18th century, a family of Persohns migrated to the United States and settled in Pennsylvania. One of their descendants, Jacob Persohn (1805-1887), became a prominent figure in the state's early agriculture and played a key role in establishing several farming cooperatives.

While the surname Persohn is not as common as some other German names, it has left a lasting legacy in various fields, from philosophy and art to engineering and agriculture, spanning several centuries and multiple countries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Persohn

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

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

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

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