How common is the surname Machen?

2,077 people in the United States had the surname Machen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 148,650 Americans. It ranked 14,392nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Machen?

John Gresham Machen, American theologian (1881–1937), followed by Willis Benson Machen.

Where is the surname Machen most common?

Wikidata records people named Machen in the United States.

Is the surname Machen getting more or less common?

More common. 1,984 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,077 in 2010, up 4.7%.

The surname Machen

A Norman occupational surname, carried by 2,077 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex M250

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Machen is more common than 91.1% of them.

Origin

Norman origin

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

Machen is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

One of 128 Norman surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 2,077 people named Machen in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 148,650 Americans. That is up 4.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,984.

#14,392

rank among US surnames

2,077

people in 2010

0.7

per 100,000 Americans

+4.7%

change since 2000 (was #13,957)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#14,392	Pelt	2,077	148,650
#14,398	Hucks	2,076	148,721

Who is named Machen

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

82% of people named Machen identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 4.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 82%
Black (not Hispanic) 9.1%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 4.3%
Two or more races 1.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.1%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Machens

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

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

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Meacham
Meachum

Surnames that sound like Machen

Machen has the Soundex code M250, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M250.

Other Norman surnames

All 128 Norman surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Machen come from?: Occupational surname for a stonemason, from Anglo-Norman machun, dialectal Norman variant of Old French maçon. Compare Mason.
How common is the surname Machen?: 2,077 people in the United States had the surname Machen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 148,650 Americans. It ranked 14,392nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Machen?: In the 2010 Census, 82% of people named Machen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Machen?: John Gresham Machen, American theologian (1881–1937), followed by Willis Benson Machen.
Where is the surname Machen most common?: Wikidata records people named Machen in the United States.
What type of surname is Machen?: Machen is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Machen getting more or less common?: More common. 1,984 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 2,077 in 2010, up 4.7%.
What are other spellings of Machen?: Meacham and Meachum.