Explore the Family Name Kiehn

The meaning of Kiehn

1. South German (Bavaria, Austria, Saxony): from the personal name Kiehn, a variant of Kuehn. 2. North German: topographic name for someone who lived by a standing of pines, from Middle Low German kien ‘pinewood spill, pine cone’, or alternatively from a vernacular short form of the female personal name Kunigunde (compare 1 above).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Kiehn slightly declined between 2000 and 2010. Despite a slight increase in its count from 743 to 784 (5.52%) over the decade, its rank fell from 29840 to 29947 showing a decrease of 0.36%. Its frequency per 100k people also saw a mild decline of 3.57% over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#29,840	#29,947	-0.36%
Count	743	784	5.52%
Proportion per 100k	0.28	0.27	-3.57%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Kiehn

When examining the ethnic identity associated with the surname Kiehn, again using data from the Decennial U.S. Census, some shifts can be observed over the decade between 2000 and 2010. The largest group identifying with this surname remains those of White ethnicity, although their representation decreased by 1.34% to 93.75%. A small but noticeable increase occurred among individuals of Hispanic ethnicity (2.96% to 3.19%, around 7.77% change) and those identifying with two or more races (1.21% to 1.91%, approximately a 57.85% change). Interestingly, during this period, there was a minor emergence of Asian/Pacific Islander ethnicity within this surname group. The proportions of Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnicities remained at zero throughout this period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.02%	93.75%	-1.34%
Hispanic	2.96%	3.19%	7.77%
Two or More Races	1.21%	1.91%	57.85%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.64%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%