# Kahn (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/kahn/  
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) | 14,584 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,473 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 21,170 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.1% (14,570 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As a north German surname, from Low German Kane (“small boat”), from Middle Low German kāne, from Old Saxon *kano, from Proto-West Germanic *kanō, from Proto-Germanic *kanô (“vessel, boat”). * Also as a north German surname, from a short form of Kahnert, a variant of Konrad. * Among Jews, a Germanicised form of Cohen.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Kahn 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) | 86% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 1.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 7.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Kahn in the United States, France, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

## People named Kahn

- Bob Kahn, American Internet pioneer, computer scientist (born 1938)
- Madeline Kahn, American actress, singer (1942-1999)
- Herman Kahn, American futurist noted for his views on nature of thermonuclear war (1922–1983)
- Michael Kahn, American film editor
- Albert Kahn, Banker, philanthropist, pioneer of photography (1860–1940)
- Albert Kahn, American architect (1869–1942)
- Joseph Kahn, American film director and music video director
- David Kahn, American historian, journalist and writer (1930-2024)
- Otto Hermann Kahn, American banker (1867–1934)
- Irving Kahn, American value investor and money manager
- Roger Kahn, American writer (1927–2020)
- Ian Kahn, American actor

and 9 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Kane, Kuhn, Kohn, Kain, Kean, Kania, Kan, Kann, Kuan, Kanu, Khan, Kwan.

## 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.