2000
#14,044
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,969
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.73
Rare Last name
Sen
A surname of Turkish origin meaning "you are" or "you" in Turkish.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,797 Americans carry the last name Sen. That puts it at #7,628 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.40 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 71,452 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Sen 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.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Sen with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.8K
1 in 71,452
Census rank
#7,628
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,183 bearers of the surname Sen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.40 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7628th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Sen, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 75.9%. The next largest groups are White (15.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Sen
The surname "Sen" has its origins in India, where it first emerged as early as the 6th century AD. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "sena," which means army or military. This suggests that the name may have originally been used to denote someone who was part of an army or had a military profession.
In ancient Indian texts and records, the name "Sen" can be found in various spellings, such as "Sena," "Sain," or "Sein." One of the earliest known references is in the Gupta Empire inscriptions from the 4th-6th centuries AD, where individuals with the title "Senapati" (commander of the army) are mentioned.
During the medieval period, the name "Sen" became more widespread across different regions of India. Several notable figures bore this surname, including Ballala Sen (1192-1293), a ruler of the Sena dynasty in Bengal, and Lakshman Sen (1179-1238), the last Hindu ruler of Bengal before the Muslim conquest.
As the name spread across India, it also took on different regional variations. In the state of West Bengal, for example, the spelling "Shen" became common, while in other parts of India, variations like "Senne" or "Senne" were used.
One of the most famous individuals with the surname "Sen" was the philosopher and mathematician Bhaskaracharya (1114-1185), also known as Bhaskara II or Bhaskaracharya II. He was a renowned scholar and authored several important works on mathematics and astronomy.
Other notable individuals with the surname "Sen" include the Indian freedom fighter Khudiram Bose (1889-1908), who was hanged by the British for his involvement in the independence movement, and the modern Indian writer and academic Amartya Sen (born 1933), who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998.
It is worth noting that the name "Sen" has also been adopted by individuals from other communities in India, not necessarily linked to its original military connotation. However, the surname's roots can be traced back to the ancient Indian subcontinent, where it emerged as a marker of military or administrative status.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sen
Among Census respondents with the surname Sen, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 75.9%. The next largest groups are White (15.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Sen 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 Sen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander75.9% · 3,174
- White15.9% · 666
- Two or more races3.9% · 165
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 121
- Black or African American0.8% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 22
Timeline
Historical Census data for Sen
Sen 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
#10,491
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 3,059
+1,090 bearers (+55.4%)
Per 100,000 1.04
Rank movement Up 3,553 places
2020
#7,628
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,183
+1,124 bearers (+36.7%)
Per 100,000 1.40
Rank movement Up 2,863 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,044 | 1,969 | 0.73 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #10,491 | 3,059 | 1.04 | +1,090 bearers (+55.4%) | Up 3,553 places |
| 2020 | #7,628 | 4,183 | 1.40 | +1,124 bearers (+36.7%) | Up 2,863 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 Sen 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 | #10,491 | #7,628 | 27.3% |
| Count | 3,059 | 4,183 | 36.7% |
| Per 100K | 1.04 | 1.40 | 34.6% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Sen bearers went from 3,059 to 4,183 (+36.7% change). The surname moved up 2,863 positions in the national ranking, going from #10,491 to #7,628.
FAQ
Sen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Sen?
Name Census estimates that about 4,797 living Americans carry the surname Sen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 71,452 residents.
How common is Sen?
Sen ranks #7,628 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.40 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,183 people with the surname Sen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,797), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.4 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.40 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Sen.
Has Sen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Sen went from 3,059 recorded bearers to 4,183. That is an increase of 1,124 (+36.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #10,491 to #7,628.
What does the Census say about the background of Sen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Sen, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 75.9%. The next largest groups are White (15.9%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). 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?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Sen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (3,174 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Sen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (75.9%), White (15.9%), Two or More Races (3.9%). 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 Sen (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 Sen mean?
A surname of Turkish origin meaning "you are" or "you" in Turkish. 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 Sen (1.40 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 many people have the surname Sen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.