Explore the Family Name Hitchen

The meaning of Hitchen

English: 1. from the personal name Hichun, a diminutive of Hich (see Hitch). 2. from the Middle English personal name Hich (see Hitch) with the characteristically West Midland genitival suffix -en. 3. habitational name from Hitchin (Hertfordshire), from Old English Hiccum, the dative plural form of the tribal name Hicce (of uncertain origin, but possibly derived from a Celtic river name meaning ‘dry’).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Hitchen has seen a decline in recent years. In 2000, it was ranked 70,273rd and had a count of 260. However, by 2010, its rank had dropped to 90,853 and the count decreased to 203. This represents a change of -29.29 in rank and a decrease of roughly 22% in the number of people with the Hitchen surname. The proportion per 100,000 people also saw a drop from 0.1 in 2000 to 0.07 in 2010, representing a decline of about 30%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#70,273	#90,853	-29.29%
Count	260	203	-21.92%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.07	-30%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Hitchen

In terms of ethnicity, the majority of individuals with the Hitchen surname have identified as White, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, approximately 95.38% of those with the Hitchen surname were White, but this percentage had slightly dipped to 90.15% by 2010. Interestingly, the percentage of those identifying as Black increased significantly from 4.23% in 2000 to 7.88% in 2010. There were no recorded instances of this surname among individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these periods.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.38%	90.15%	-5.48%
Black	4.23%	7.88%	86.29%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%