How common is the surname Cohen?

89,091 people in the United States had the surname Cohen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,466 Americans. It ranked 351st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Cohen?

Stanley Cohen, American biochemist, followed by Paul Cohen.

Where is the surname Cohen most common?

Wikidata records people named Cohen in the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium and 3 other countries.

How do you pronounce Cohen?

Cohen is /ˈkoʊən/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Cohen getting more or less common?

More common. 87,226 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 89,091 in 2010, up 2.1%.

Is Cohen also a first name?

Yes. Cohen is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Cohen

A Hebrew surname, carried by 89,091 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkoʊən/ 2 syllables Soundex C500 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Cohen is more common than 99.8% of them.

Origin

Hebrew origin

From Hebrew כֹּהֵן (kohén, “cohen”).

One of 51 Hebrew surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 89,091 people named Cohen in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 3,466 Americans. That is up 2.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 87,226.

#351

rank among US surnames

89,091

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.1%

change since 2000 (was #320)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#342	Fleming	90,677	3,405
#343	Rhodes	90,670	3,405
#344	Shelton	90,517	3,411
#345	Schwartz	90,071	3,428
#346	Norris	89,796	3,438
#347	Jennings	89,700	3,442
#348	Watts	89,649	3,444

Who is named Cohen

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

89% of people named Cohen identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.0% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 89%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.0%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.3%
Two or more races 1.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Cohens

69 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Stanley Cohen
American biochemist, 1922–2020
Paul Cohen
American mathematician, 1934–2007
Sasha Cohen
American figure skater, born 1984
Bram Cohen
American programmer, creator of BitTorrent protocol, born 1975
Rob Cohen
American film director and producer, born 1949
William Cohen
American politician (born 1940)
Lynn Cohen
American actress (1933–2020)
Michael Cohen
American attorney and Republican official, born 1966
Larry Cohen
American film producer, director, and screenwriter (1936–2019)
David X. Cohen
American television writer (born 1966)
Stanley Norman Cohen
American geneticist, born 1935
Stephen F. Cohen
American historian (1938-2020)

Notable Cohens come mostly from the United States (63), the United Kingdom (2) and Belgium (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Cohen

Cohen has the Soundex code C500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C500.

Other Hebrew surnames

All 51 Hebrew surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Cohen come from?: From Hebrew כֹּהֵן (kohén, “cohen”).
How common is the surname Cohen?: 89,091 people in the United States had the surname Cohen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 3,466 Americans. It ranked 351st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Cohen?: In the 2010 Census, 89% of people named Cohen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.0% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Cohen?: Stanley Cohen, American biochemist, followed by Paul Cohen.
Where is the surname Cohen most common?: Wikidata records people named Cohen in the United States, the United Kingdom and Belgium and 3 other countries.
How do you pronounce Cohen?: Cohen is /ˈkoʊən/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Cohen getting more or less common?: More common. 87,226 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 89,091 in 2010, up 2.1%.
Is Cohen also a first name?: Yes. Cohen is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.