Hagen
A surname with several possible roots, most often linked to an old word for an enclosed place or to medieval Germanic personal names.
The #1,518 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,074 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname may come from a Germanic personal name such as Hagen or Hagena, or from an older word for a hedge, enclosure, or enclosed meadow. The Old English and related Germanic forms behind it could also give place-based surnames meaning someone who lived by, or came from, an enclosed or hedged piece of land. In some cases it may instead reflect the medieval personal name associated with the Hagen of heroic legend.
History
Historical surname dictionaries often treat Hagen as part of a wider family of related Germanic names and forms, including Hacon/Hakon and Hagena. The name also has literary prestige through Hagen, the famous warrior of the Nibelungen tradition, which helped keep it recognizable in German-speaking areas. In English records, it can appear either as a surname or as a shortened form of older personal-name elements.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century writers explicitly linked Hagen with the heroic giant/warrior of the Nibelungen saga, showing how legend sometimes influenced surname explanations.
From the historical record
“and Hacon (q.v.) are closely re- lated. The Emperor of Germany's new ironclad (1B95) is Hagen, after the famous giant of the Kibelungen Saga. itHaken.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instancesNotable people named Hagen
- Nina Hagen (b. 1955)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.