# Machen (surname)

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

An English surname from Anglo-Norman [in turn originating as an occupation].

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norman |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,077 |
| US rank (2010) | 14,392 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 148,650 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.7% (1,984 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Meacham, Meachum |

## Etymology

Occupational surname for a stonemason, from Anglo-Norman machun, dialectal Norman variant of Old French maçon. Compare Mason.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Machen 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) | 82% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 4.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.1% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Machen in the United States.

## People named Machen

- John Gresham Machen, American theologian (1881–1937)
- Willis Benson Machen, American politician (1810–1893)

## Similar surnames

Machin, McHone, McHaney, Machon, Macon, Mackin, Mason, McKinney, Magana, McCann, McGowan, McKenna.

## 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.