Find out how popular the last name Bergland is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bergland.

Bergland, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bergland surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bergland in America

Bergland is the 36099th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bergland surname appeared 621 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Bergland.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bergland to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bergland

The surname Bergland originated in Norway, deriving its roots from the Old Norse words "berg" meaning mountain or hill, and "land" meaning land or region. It is believed to have emerged during the Viking Age, between the 8th and 11th centuries, as a descriptive name for individuals who lived near or came from mountainous areas.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bergland can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian medieval documents dating back to the 12th century. The name is mentioned in a document from 1276, referring to a landowner named Thorvald Bergland from the Gudbrandsdalen valley in central Norway.

In the 14th century, the name appeared in various records across Norway, often associated with individuals from the Oppland and Hedmark regions, known for their rugged mountain terrain. A notable figure from this time was Ivar Bergland, a farmer and landowner from Gausdal, born around 1320.

As the name spread across Scandinavia, it took on various spellings, such as Bergland, Berglund, and Berglander, reflecting local linguistic variations. In Sweden, the name Berglund gained prominence, with the earliest known record dating back to 1540, when a man named Nils Berglund was mentioned in a tax register from Dalarna.

During the 19th century, as immigration to the United States and Canada increased, many Norwegians and Swedes with the surname Bergland or its variations settled in North America. One of the earliest documented individuals was Hans Bergland, a Norwegian immigrant who arrived in Wisconsin in 1842.

Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the surname Bergland. These include Olav Bergland, a Norwegian poet and playwright born in 1867, who gained recognition for his works depicting rural life in Norway. Another prominent figure was Johan Bergland, a Swedish-American engineer born in 1885, who contributed significantly to the development of hydroelectric power plants in the Pacific Northwest.

In more recent times, the name Bergland has been carried by individuals such as Knut Bergland, a Norwegian cross-country skier who won multiple Olympic and World Championship medals in the 1960s and 1970s, and Kathleen Bergland, an American politician and diplomat who served as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 1977 to 1981.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bergland

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bergland.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bergland was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bergland has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bergland was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bergland, please contact us.

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