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

Ericsson, 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 Ericsson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ericsson in America

Ericsson is the 41728th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ericsson surname appeared 521 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 Ericsson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ericsson 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 Ericsson

The surname Ericsson is of Swedish origin, originating from the patronymic tradition of adding the suffix "-son" to a father's given name, in this case, Eric. The name Eric is derived from the Old Norse name Eiríkr, which means "ever ruler" or "eternal ruler."

Ericsson can be traced back to the Viking Age in Scandinavia, where it was a common practice to identify individuals by their father's name. This naming convention was prevalent among the Norse people, who settled in various parts of Europe during the Viking Age, including parts of modern-day Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland.

The earliest recorded instances of the name Ericsson can be found in medieval Swedish records and documents. One notable mention is in the Västgötalagen, a provincial law code from the 13th century, where the name appears as a witness or signatory.

In the late Middle Ages, the name Ericsson began to be used as a hereditary surname, as opposed to a patronymic. This transition occurred as surnames became more widely adopted in Sweden and other parts of Scandinavia.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Ericsson was Jöns Ericsson, a Swedish clergyman who lived in the 15th century. Another notable figure was Nils Ericsson, a Swedish military officer and landowner who lived in the 16th century.

In the 17th century, the name Ericsson gained prominence with the birth of Jöns Ericsson (1628-1718), a Swedish merchant and ship owner. His descendants included several notable individuals, such as Nils Ericsson (1802-1870), a Swedish engineer and inventor who designed the first screw-propelled steamship.

Another famous bearer of the name was John Ericsson (1803-1889), a Swedish-American engineer and inventor who is best known for designing the ironclad warship USS Monitor during the American Civil War.

Other notable individuals with the surname Ericsson include Lars Magnus Ericsson (1846-1926), the founder of the Swedish multinational telecommunications company Ericsson, and Leif Ericsson (c. 970-c. 1020), the Norse explorer widely regarded as the first European to reach North America, nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ericsson

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

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

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

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