# Essen (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/essen/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from German.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | German |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 440 |
| US rank (2010) | 48,060 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 701,694 people |
| Change since 2000 | -2.9% (453 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɛsən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the German city and surname, often confused with essen (“eating”), but this is not related. The city's oldest name, Astnide, could be related to Old High German asc (“ash tree”). The surname is from the city.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Essen in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 93% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 1.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Essen in the Russian Empire.

## People named Essen

- Magnus Gustav von Essen, Baltic German military personnel (1759-1813)
- Peter Essen, Baltic German military general (1772-1844)

## Similar surnames

Eisen, Egan, Eason, Eagan, Eugene, Eakin, Exum, Eugenio, Eggen, Eagen.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.