2000
#6,196
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,089
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.89
Rare Last name
Thelen
A German occupational surname denoting a carpenter or woodworker, derived from the Middle High German word "dil" meaning "board."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 6,357 Americans carry the last name Thelen. That puts it at #5,975 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.85 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 53,918 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Thelen 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
6.4K
1 in 53,918
Census rank
#5,975
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
5.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 5,544 bearers of the surname Thelen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.85 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5975th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Thelen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Thelen
The surname THELEN is of German origin, first appearing in records from the region of Westphalia in the northwestern part of the country during the late medieval period. It is believed to have derived from the Old German word "thel," meaning "valley" or "dale," suggesting that the original bearers of the name likely lived in or came from a particular valley area.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the THELEN surname can be found in a 14th-century document from the town of Soest in Westphalia, where a certain "Johannes Thelen" is mentioned as a landowner. This indicates that the name had already established itself as a hereditary surname by that time.
In the 16th century, the THELEN name appears to have spread to other parts of Germany, as evidenced by records from various cities and regions. For instance, a Johannes Thelen is listed as a citizen of Cologne in 1554, while another individual named Matthias Thelen is recorded as living in the town of Alzey in Rheinhessen in 1572.
Several notable individuals have borne the THELEN surname throughout history. One of the earliest was Johann Thelen (c. 1570-1635), a German composer and organist who served in the court of the Elector of Brandenburg. Another was Caspar Thelen (1619-1675), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his portraits and genre scenes.
In the 19th century, Carl Thelen (1838-1920) was a prominent German-American architect based in Chicago, responsible for designing several notable buildings in the city, including the Auditorium Building and the Studebaker Theater.
More recently, Mark Thelen (1944-2010) was an American baseball player who spent several seasons in the Major Leagues, primarily with the Detroit Tigers in the 1960s and 1970s.
While the THELEN surname is most commonly associated with Germany and the German diaspora, it has also been adopted by families in other parts of Europe and beyond, potentially through migration or variation in spelling from similar-sounding names.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thelen
Among Census respondents with the surname Thelen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and Hispanic (2.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Thelen 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 Thelen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.0% · 5,213
- Two or more races2.5% · 139
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 130
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 35
- Black or African American0.3% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 12
Timeline
Historical Census data for Thelen
Thelen 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
#6,065
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,657
+568 bearers (+11.2%)
Per 100,000 1.92
Rank movement Up 131 places
2020
#5,975
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 5,544
-113 bearers (-2.0%)
Per 100,000 1.85
Rank movement Up 90 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #6,196 | 5,089 | 1.89 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #6,065 | 5,657 | 1.92 | +568 bearers (+11.2%) | Up 131 places |
| 2020 | #5,975 | 5,544 | 1.85 | -113 bearers (-2.0%) | Up 90 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 Thelen 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 | #6,065 | #5,975 | 1.5% |
| Count | 5,657 | 5,544 | -2.0% |
| Per 100K | 1.92 | 1.85 | -3.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Thelen bearers went from 5,657 to 5,544 (-2.0% change). The surname moved up 90 positions in the national ranking, going from #6,065 to #5,975.
FAQ
Thelen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Thelen?
Name Census estimates that about 6,357 living Americans carry the surname Thelen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 53,918 residents.
How common is Thelen?
Thelen ranks #5,975 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.85 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 5,544 people with the surname Thelen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (6,357), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.85 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.85 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Thelen.
Has Thelen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Thelen went from 5,657 recorded bearers to 5,544. That is a decrease of 113 (-2.0%). In the national ranking it rose from #6,065 to #5,975.
What does the Census say about the background of Thelen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Thelen, the largest self-reported group is White at 94.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Thelen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.0% (5,213 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Thelen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (94.0%), Two or More Races (2.5%), Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Thelen (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 Thelen mean?
A German occupational surname denoting a carpenter or woodworker, derived from the Middle High German word "dil" meaning "board." 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 Thelen (1.85 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 share the surname Thelen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.