The Houben surname
In the 2000 U.S. Census, 163 people carried this name — #102,173 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 1,666,700 people counted.
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In Belgium’s population register
At least 2,946 people named Houben 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 59 people named Houben.
22 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 7 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
25 people named Houben live in Switzerland.
They live in 2 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 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In print
Houben in American newspapers,
1925–1956.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 798 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Houben,
with a public archive behind them.
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Charles of Mount Argus 1821–1893 · Catholic priest -
Christiaan Houben 1824–1900 · politician -
Henri Houben 1858–1931 · painter -
Charles Houben 1871–1931 · painter -
Hubert Houben 1875–1943 · sport cyclist
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 91 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Houben.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Houben is.
A volume says what happened to it.
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