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

Bergstrom, 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 Bergstrom surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bergstrom in America

Bergstrom is the 3986th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bergstrom surname appeared 8,908 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Bergstrom.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bergstrom 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 Bergstrom

The surname Bergstrom is of Swedish origin, derived from the combination of the words "berg" meaning mountain or hill, and "ström" meaning stream. It likely originated in the 16th or 17th century as a topographic name, referring to someone who lived near a mountain stream.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Bergstrom can be found in Swedish parish records from the 17th century. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Johan Bergstrom, a farmer born in 1632 in the village of Bäckaby, in the province of Småland.

In the 18th century, the name Bergstrom appeared in various Swedish historical documents, including military records and land registry records. Notably, Anders Bergstrom, born in 1745 in the town of Nora, served in the Swedish Army during the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790.

As the Swedish population began to migrate to other parts of the world, the name Bergstrom spread to various countries. One of the earliest known bearers of the name in the United States was Nils Bergstrom, a Swedish immigrant who arrived in New York in 1842 and later settled in Minnesota.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname Bergstrom, including:

1. Johan Olof Bergstrom (1784-1868), a Swedish botanist and professor at the University of Lund.
2. Erland Samuel Bergstrom (1877-1936), a Swedish-American architect who designed several notable buildings in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
3. Sune Bergstrom (1916-2004), a Swedish biochemist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1982 for his work on prostaglandins.
4. Ingrid Bergstrom (1936-2000), a Swedish author and journalist known for her novels and children's books.
5. Erik Bergstrom (born 1988), a Swedish professional ice hockey player who has played in the NHL for the Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers.

While the surname Bergstrom is most commonly associated with Sweden, it has also been adopted by individuals of other nationalities over time, reflecting the global migration patterns and cultural exchanges that have occurred throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bergstrom

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

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 Bergstrom 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 Bergstrom 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 Bergstrom was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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