2000
#10,933
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,671
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.99
Rare Last name
Thielen
A German and Dutch topographic surname referring to someone living in a hollow or low-lying area.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,182 Americans carry the last name Thielen. That puts it at #10,964 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.93 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 107,717 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Thielen 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
3.2K
1 in 107,717
Census rank
#10,964
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,775 bearers of the surname Thielen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.93 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10964th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Thielen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (3.5%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Thielen
The surname Thielen has its origins in Germany, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It is derived from the Old German word "thiel," which means "valley" or "depression." This suggests that the name likely referred to someone who lived in or near a valley or low-lying area.
The earliest known record of the name Thielen can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae, a collection of historical documents from Saxony, dating back to the year 1295. Here, a person named "Henningo Thielen" is mentioned as a landowner in the town of Borna.
In the 14th century, the name appeared in various forms, such as "Thylen," "Thilen," and "Thielen," in several legal documents and property records across Central Germany. One notable example is the mention of a "Johannes Thielen" in the Stadtbuch (city book) of Erfurt in 1372.
The name Thielen is also associated with several place names in Germany, such as Thielen (a village in North Rhine-Westphalia), Thielenhausen (a municipality in Bavaria), and Thielenbruch (a district in Essen). These place names likely derived from the surname itself or vice versa, reflecting the connection between the name and its geographical origins.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Thielen. One of the earliest recorded was Johann Thielen (1599-1667), a German astronomer and mathematician who published works on celestial mechanics and planetary motion.
Another notable figure was Johann Philipp Thielen (1719-1789), a German composer and organist who served as the court Kapellmeister in Bamberg and wrote numerous sacred and secular works.
In the 19th century, Theodor Thielen (1810-1886) was a prominent German painter known for his landscape paintings and depictions of rural life in the Rhineland region.
More recently, Adam Thielen (born 1990) is an American football wide receiver who currently plays for the Minnesota Vikings in the National Football League (NFL).
Finally, Markus Thielen (born 1948) is a German politician who served as the Minister of Finance for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2005 to 2010.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thielen
Among Census respondents with the surname Thielen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (3.5%).
The bar chart below shows how Thielen 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 Thielen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.5% · 2,511
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 129
- Two or more races3.5% · 98
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 19
- Black or African American0.4% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 8
Timeline
Historical Census data for Thielen
Thielen 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
#11,078
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,867
+196 bearers (+7.3%)
Per 100,000 0.97
Rank movement Down 145 places
2020
#10,964
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,775
-92 bearers (-3.2%)
Per 100,000 0.93
Rank movement Up 114 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #10,933 | 2,671 | 0.99 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,078 | 2,867 | 0.97 | +196 bearers (+7.3%) | Down 145 places |
| 2020 | #10,964 | 2,775 | 0.93 | -92 bearers (-3.2%) | Up 114 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 Thielen 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 | #11,078 | #10,964 | 1.0% |
| Count | 2,867 | 2,775 | -3.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.97 | 0.93 | -4.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Thielen bearers went from 2,867 to 2,775 (-3.2% change). The surname moved up 114 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,078 to #10,964.
FAQ
Thielen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Thielen?
Name Census estimates that about 3,182 living Americans carry the surname Thielen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 107,717 residents.
How common is Thielen?
Thielen ranks #10,964 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.93 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 2,775 people with the surname Thielen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,182), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.93 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.93 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 Thielen.
Has Thielen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Thielen went from 2,867 recorded bearers to 2,775. That is a decrease of 92 (-3.2%). In the national ranking it rose from #11,078 to #10,964.
What does the Census say about the background of Thielen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Thielen, the largest self-reported group is White at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Thielen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (2,511 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Thielen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (90.5%), Hispanic (4.6%), Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Thielen (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 Thielen mean?
A German and Dutch topographic surname referring to someone living in a hollow or low-lying area. 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 Thielen (0.93 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 Thielen?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people are called Thielen at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.