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

Prosen, 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 Prosen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Prosen in America

Prosen is the 66754th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Prosen surname appeared 296 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 Prosen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Prosen 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 Prosen

The surname Prosen originated in the region of Carinthia, located in modern-day Austria. It can be traced back to the 12th century, with the earliest known spelling variations including Prosen, Prozen, and Prossen. The name is believed to derive from the Old High German word "pros," meaning "bramble" or "thicket," suggesting that the original bearers of this surname may have lived near a dense, thorny area.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Prosen name can be found in the Codex Traditionum, a 12th-century manuscript documenting land transactions in the Carinthian region. In this document, a certain "Heinricus Prosen" is listed as a witness to a property transfer in the year 1187.

As the centuries passed, the Prosen family seemed to have spread throughout various parts of Austria and neighboring regions. In the 14th century, a man named Ulrich Prosen (born around 1310) was documented as a prominent landowner in the town of Friesach, located in the Carinthian duchy.

During the Renaissance period, a notable figure bearing the Prosen name was Johannes Prosen (1492-1567), a scholar and theologian who served as the rector of the University of Vienna. His writings on theological debates of the time have been preserved in various academic archives.

In the 17th century, the Prosen surname appeared in the records of the Holy Roman Empire, with a mention of a soldier named Hans Prosen (1628-1701) who fought in the Thirty Years' War under the Imperial forces.

Another historically significant individual with the Prosen surname was Katharina Prosen (1711-1792), a renowned herbalist and midwife from the village of Millstatt in Carinthia. Her extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and traditional remedies was widely sought after in her time.

While the Prosen name may have originated in the Carinthian region, it eventually spread to other parts of Europe, including Germany and Switzerland. However, records from these areas are relatively scarce compared to the earlier mentions found in Austria and its neighboring territories.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Prosen

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

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

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

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