Explore the Family Name Getahun

The meaning of Getahun

Ethiopian: from the personal name Getahun, which is interpreted as ‘be a lord!’ in the Amharic language. — Note: Since Ethiopians do not have hereditary surnames, this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Getahun has shown a significant increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Getahun ranked 99,725th in frequency but by 2010, it had climbed to 48,901st place, showing a remarkable change of about 51 percent. The total count of people with this surname also increased from 168 in 2000 to 431 in 2010, a growth rate of over 156 percent. As such, the proportion per 100,000 people bearing the surname Getahun expanded by 150 percent during this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#99,725	#48,901	50.96%
Count	168	431	156.55%
Proportion per 100k	0.06	0.15	150%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Getahun

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides an interesting look at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Getahun. The majority of individuals with this surname identified as Black, accounting for 86.31 percent in 2000 and growing to 96.29 percent by 2010. The representation of Getahun among those identifying as two or more races decreased from 7.14 percent to 1.86 percent over the same period, while those identifying as White also declined from 2.98 percent to 1.16 percent. The figures show no individuals with the Getahun surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either 2000 or 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	86.31%	96.29%	11.56%
Two or More Races	7.14%	1.86%	-73.95%
White	2.98%	1.16%	-61.07%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%