Explore the Family Name Rathjen

The meaning of Rathjen

North German, North Frisian, and East Frisian: patronymic from Rathje. This surname is rare in North and East Frisia. Compare Rochin. Some characteristic forenames: German Kurt, Jurgen, Eldor, Ernst, Hans, Reinold.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Rathjen has seen a mild fluctuation in popularity over the years. In 2000, Rathjen ranked 20,456th in popularity, with approximately 1,206 individuals holding this surname. This figure slightly increased to 1,227 by 2010, representing a 1.74% increase in count. However, its rank fell to 21,348, a decrease of 4.36%. The proportion of people per 100,000 with the surname Rathjen also decreased from 0.45 to 0.42, marking a 6.67% drop.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#20,456	#21,348	-4.36%
Count	1,206	1,227	1.74%
Proportion per 100k	0.45	0.42	-6.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rathjen

Analysing the ethnic identity distribution among those with the surname Rathjen, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority identify as White. This group makes up 97.51% in 2000, slightly dropping to 96.25% in 2010. Those identifying as Hispanic saw a significant increase from 0.83% to 1.79%, an impressive 115.66% change. Individuals identifying as two or more races also experienced growth, rising from 0.58% to 0.98%, a 68.97% increase. The percentage of Black individuals rose modestly from 0.41% to 0.49%. No data was available for the Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native categories for 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	97.51%	96.25%	-1.29%
Hispanic	0.83%	1.79%	115.66%
Two or More Races	0.58%	0.98%	68.97%
Black	0.41%	0.49%	19.51%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.66%	0%	0%