Kuehn
A German surname usually derived from a nickname meaning “bold” or “brave.”
The #4,905 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 42,995 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Kuehn is a German surname spelling variant of Kühn, from Middle High German and modern German kühn, meaning “bold,” “brave,” or “daring.” It began as a nickname for someone thought to be courageous or impetuous, and later became hereditary as surnames stabilized. The spelling Kuehn often reflects the German umlaut ü being written as ue, especially in records outside Germany.
History
The surname is strongly associated with German-speaking regions and became more widely fixed as a hereditary family name in the late medieval and early modern periods. In English-speaking countries, especially the United States, the umlauted form Kühn was often simplified to Kuehn or Kuhn in immigration and recordkeeping. The name remains relatively common in German diaspora communities.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The spelling with “ue” is not a different root so much as a practical way to represent the German letter ü when diacritics are dropped.