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

Bjorndal, 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 Bjorndal surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bjorndal in America

Bjorndal is the 146201st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bjorndal surname appeared 113 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 Bjorndal.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bjorndal 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 Bjorndal

The surname Bjorndal has its origins in Norway, dating back to the Viking era of the 8th to 11th centuries. The name is derived from the Old Norse words "bjorn" meaning bear, and "dal" meaning valley, effectively translating to "bear valley" or "valley of the bear". This suggests that the name may have originated from a geographic location where bears were prevalent or as a descriptive nickname for someone who resided in such an area.

Early records of the name can be found in the Icelandic sagas, which were literary works documenting the lives and adventures of Norse settlers in Iceland during the 9th to 11th centuries. One notable figure was Bjorn Bjorndal, a Norse chieftain mentioned in the Laxdæla saga, who lived in the late 10th century.

In the 13th century, the name appeared in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian documents and records. One notable entry was Thorvald Bjorndal, a landowner and farmer from the Gudbrandsdalen valley in central Norway, recorded in 1271.

During the 16th century, the spelling of the name evolved to include variations such as Bjørndal, Bjørndahl, and Bjørndalen, reflecting regional differences in pronunciation and written forms. One prominent individual from this period was Nils Bjørndal, a merchant and ship owner from Bergen, Norway, who lived from 1528 to 1602.

In the 18th century, Johan Bjorndal, a Norwegian theologian and author, made significant contributions to the Lutheran church in Norway. He was born in 1718 and died in 1786.

Another notable figure was Peder Bjorndal, a Norwegian explorer and whaler who participated in several expeditions to Svalbard and Greenland in the early 19th century. He was born in 1788 and died in 1865.

The name Bjorndal has also been associated with other Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Denmark, where variations such as Björndal and Bjørndal can be found. One example is the Swedish author and playwright Sven Björndal, who lived from 1882 to 1935.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bjorndal

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

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

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

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