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

Polen, 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 Polen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Polen in America

Polen is the 12059th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Polen surname appeared 2,586 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Polen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Polen 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 Polen

The surname Polen is believed to have originated in Poland, although its roots can be traced back to several centuries ago. The name is thought to be derived from the old Polish word "pole," which means "field" or "plain." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to someone who lived near or worked on an open field or plain.

The earliest recorded instances of the Polen surname can be found in various historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries in Poland. One notable mention is in a manuscript from the city of Krakow, where a certain Jakub Polen was listed as a landowner in the year 1287.

As the name spread across different regions of Poland, it underwent several spelling variations, such as Polenz, Polenski, and Polenczyk. These variations often reflected the local dialects and regional pronunciations of the time.

In the 16th century, the Polen name also appeared in some German records, possibly due to migration or intermarriage between Polish and German families. One example is Hans Polen, a merchant from Gdansk (then known as Danzig) who traded goods with various cities in the Holy Roman Empire in the late 1500s.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the Polen surname. One such figure was Wojciech Polen, a Polish philosopher and theologian who lived in the 15th century and taught at the University of Krakow.

Another prominent person with this surname was Jan Polen, a Polish military officer who fought against the Swedish invasion during the Deluge (1655-1660). He is renowned for his bravery and leadership in defending the city of Poznan from Swedish forces.

In the 19th century, a Polish painter named Wladyslaw Polen gained recognition for his landscapes and portraits. He was born in 1823 in Warsaw and studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.

Another notable individual was Zofia Polen, a Polish writer and activist who lived from 1882 to 1957. She was a prominent figure in the women's rights movement in Poland and wrote several novels and essays advocating for gender equality.

Finally, one cannot overlook Stanislaw Polen, a Polish mathematician and logician who made significant contributions to the field of set theory in the early 20th century. He was born in 1889 and taught at the University of Warsaw for many years.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Polen

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

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

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

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