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    The surnameAllen

    A patronymic surname, the 33rd most common in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈæ.lən/ 2 syllables Soundex A450 Also a first name

    Allen: #33 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Allen #33, 482,607 people Allen: #33 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#1,000Archer Allen #33, 482,607 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Allen is more common than 99.9% of them.

    Origin

    An English and Scottish surname transferred from the given name derived from the given name Alan.

    Allen is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 482,607 people named Allen in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 640 Americans. That is up 4.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 463,368.

    #33
    rank among US surnames
    482,607
    people in 2010
    164
    per 100,000 Americans
    +4.2%
    change since 2000 (was #32)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #24White660,491467
    #25Harris624,252495
    #26Sánchez612,752504
    #27Clark562,679549
    #28Ramirez557,423554
    #29Lewis531,781581
    #30Robinson529,821583

    Who is named Allen

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    68% of people named Allen identified as white (not Hispanic), 26% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 68%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 26%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • Two or more races 2.4%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Allens

    192 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Woody Allen
      American filmmaker, actor and comedian (born 1935)
    • Paul Allen
      American businessman and philanthropist, co-founder of Microsoft (1953–2018)
    • Joan Allen
      American actress (born 1956)
    • Ray Allen
      American basketball player (born 1975)
    • Frances Allen
      American computer scientist (1932–2020)
    • Karen Allen
      American actress, born 1951
    • Alfie Allen
      British actor, born 1986
    • Fred Allen
      American comedian (1894–1956)
    • Nancy Allen
      American actress, born 1950
    • Debbie Allen
      American actress, choreographer, television director, television producer, singer, and dan, born 1950
    • Joel Asaph Allen
      American zoologist and ornithologist (1838–1921)
    • Gracie Allen
      American actress and entertainer (1896–1964)

    Notable Allens come mostly from the United States (174), Australia (8) and the United Kingdom (6).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    Surnames that sound like Allen

    Allen has the Soundex code A450, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A450.

    Questions

    How common is the surname Allen?
    482,607 people in the United States had the surname Allen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 640 Americans. It ranked 33rd of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Allen?
    In the 2010 Census, 68% of people named Allen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 26% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Allen?
    Woody Allen, American filmmaker, actor and comedian (born 1935), followed by Paul Allen.