The Gielen surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 113 people carried this name — #146,201 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 2,500,000 people counted. That is up 12% from 101 in 2000.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 3,913 people named Gielen live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Limburg.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 87 people named Gielen.
16 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 12 départements, most often Nord.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
21 people named Gielen live in Switzerland.
They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In print
Gielen in American newspapers,
1887–1946.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 292 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Gielen,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Peter Gielen 1863–1943 · conductor -
Jos Gielen 1898–1981 · politician -
Michael Gielen 1927–2019 · composer -
Stan Gielen 1952– · university teacher -
Johan Gielen 1968– · composer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 45 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Gielen.
- Gibert 541 · U.S. census
- Giberti 161 · U.S. census
- Giblin 2,794 · U.S. census
- Gibson 190,667 · U.S. census
- Gidel 121 · U.S. census
- Giel 430 · U.S. census
- Gier 1,344 · U.S. census
- Gies 1,719 · U.S. census
- Giess 148 · U.S. census
- Gigandet 176 · U.S. census
- Gigante 1,116 · U.S. census
- Giger 984 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Gielen is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.