2000
#33,471
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 643
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.24
Very Rare Last name
Prehn
A German surname derived from an old Slavic term for someone from Brandenburg.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 630 Americans carry the last name Prehn. That puts it at #42,533 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.18 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 544,055 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Prehn 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
630
1 in 544,055
Census rank
#42,533
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
549
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 549 bearers of the surname Prehn in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.18 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 42533rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Prehn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Prehn
The surname Prehn has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the early 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old Germanic word "pren," which means "to adorn" or "to decorate." The name likely referred to a person who practiced a craft or trade involving ornamentation or decoration.
In its earliest known records, the surname Prehn appeared in various regions of northern Germany, including Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania. Some of the earliest documented instances of the name can be found in church records and town registers from the 16th and 17th centuries.
One of the earliest known references to the surname Prehn dates back to 1542, when a certain Hans Prehn was listed as a resident of the town of Lübeck, a prominent Hanseatic city in northern Germany. Another notable early record is that of Johann Prehn, a merchant from Hamburg who was mentioned in a trade document from 1629.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Prehn family spread across various parts of Germany, with some members establishing themselves in other European countries as well. One prominent figure was Johann Friedrich Prehn (1670-1743), a German jurist and legal scholar who served as a professor of law at the University of Halle.
In the 19th century, the Prehn surname gained further recognition with the birth of Christian August Prehn (1810-1884), a German painter and lithographer known for his landscapes and architectural depictions. Another notable individual was Gustav Adolf Prehn (1856-1935), a German-American architect who designed several prominent buildings in Chicago, including the Auditorium Building and the Blackstone Hotel.
Other historical figures bearing the Prehn surname include August Prehn (1879-1935), a German politician and member of the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic, and Kurt Prehn (1888-1983), a German aviator and World War I flying ace.
While the Prehn surname has remained most prevalent in Germany and parts of northern Europe, it has also been carried by individuals in various other countries, reflecting the migration and diaspora of families over the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Prehn
Among Census respondents with the surname Prehn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.2%).
The bar chart below shows how Prehn 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 Prehn surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.6% · 514
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 16
- Two or more races2.2% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Prehn
Prehn appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#37,646
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 591
-52 bearers (-8.1%)
Per 100,000 0.20
Rank movement Down 4,175 places
2020
#42,533
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 549
-42 bearers (-7.1%)
Per 100,000 0.18
Rank movement Down 4,887 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #33,471 | 643 | 0.24 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #37,646 | 591 | 0.20 | -52 bearers (-8.1%) | Down 4,175 places |
| 2020 | #42,533 | 549 | 0.18 | -42 bearers (-7.1%) | Down 4,887 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 Prehn 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 | #37,646 | #42,533 | -13.0% |
| Count | 591 | 549 | -7.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.20 | 0.18 | -8.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Prehn bearers went from 591 to 549 (-7.1% change). The surname moved down 4,887 positions in the national ranking, going from #37,646 to #42,533.
FAQ
Prehn surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Prehn?
Name Census estimates that about 630 living Americans carry the surname Prehn. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 544,055 residents.
How common is Prehn?
Prehn ranks #42,533 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.18 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 549 people with the surname Prehn. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (630), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.18 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.18 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 Prehn.
Has Prehn become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Prehn went from 591 recorded bearers to 549. That is a decrease of 42 (-7.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #37,646 to #42,533.
What does the Census say about the background of Prehn?
Among Census respondents with the surname Prehn, the largest self-reported group is White at 93.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Prehn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.6% (514 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Prehn appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (93.6%), Hispanic (2.9%), Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Prehn (2000, 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 Prehn mean?
A German surname derived from an old Slavic term for someone from Brandenburg. 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 Prehn (0.18 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 common is the surname Prehn?
Want to know how many people have the surname Prehn? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.