Explore the Family Name Gagen

The meaning of Gagen

1. Irish: possibly from Mag Eochagáin (see Geoghegan). 2. English (Norfolk): unexplained. 3. German: topographic name from the Tyrolean term Gagen ‘Alpine dairy hut’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Gagen in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Gagen saw a slight drop in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked the 30,352nd most popular surname in the United States, but by 2010, it had fallen to 32,302nd place, showing a decrease of 6.42%. The count of people with the Gagen surname also decreased during this period from 727 to 713, a decline of 1.93%. As a proportion per 100,000 people, the Gagen surname dropped by 11.11% from 0.27 to 0.24.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#30,352	#32,302	-6.42%
Count	727	713	-1.93%
Proportion per 100k	0.27	0.24	-11.11%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gagen

Ethnically, the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority of those with the Gagen surname identified as White in both 2000 and 2010, though this percentage did slightly decrease from 96.42% to 93.41%. There were notable increases in those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic over the decade. The Asian/Pacific Islander group saw a substantial increase of 102.90%, moving from 0.69% to 1.40%. Similarly, the percentage of Hispanics with the Gagen surname climbed from 1.10% to 3.23%, a 193.64% increase. Meanwhile, the percentages for Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities remained at 0 for both years. The group identifying as two or more ethnicities increased modestly from 1.10% to 1.40%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.42%	93.41%	-3.12%
Hispanic	1.1%	3.23%	193.64%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.69%	1.4%	102.9%
Two or More Races	1.1%	1.4%	27.27%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%