Explore the Family Name Gehlen

The meaning of Gehlen

German: 1. genitivized patronymic from Gehl. This surname is also found in France (Alsace and Lorraine). 2. in the northwest a topographic name denoting wet, low-lying ground. 3. from an old vernacular short form of either of the female personal names Christina (see Cristina) or Gertrud (see Trude).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Gehlen has seen a slight dip from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it ranked 69,201 in terms of prevalence among all surnames in the United States, then slipped to 73,005 by 2010, marking a 5.5% decrease. The actual count of individuals with this surname barely changed, increasing slightly from 265 to 266. However, the proportion per 100,000 people decreased by 10%, signaling that while the number of people bearing this surname remained largely static, its relative frequency dropped due to population growth.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#69,201	#73,005	-5.5%
Count	265	266	0.38%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.09	-10%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Gehlen

On the matter of ethnicity, according to the Decennial U.S. Census, the Gehlen surname primarily associates with those identifying as White. In 2000, about 97.36% of those with the Gehlen surname identified as White, decreasing slightly to 94.36% by 2010. There was no reported change in the percentage of individuals with this surname who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Two or more races, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during this period. Notably, there was a small emergence of people with Hispanic ethnicity carrying the Gehlen surname in 2010, where none had been recorded in 2000.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.36%	94.36%	-3.08%
Hispanic	0%	1.88%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%