Erlandson last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Erlandson

A patronymic surname derived from the Scandinavian personal name Erland, meaning "foreigner" or "stranger from a foreign land."

Erlandson, 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 Erlandson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Erlandson in America

Erlandson is the 14434th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Erlandson surname appeared 2,070 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Erlandson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Erlandson 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 14434 13628 5.74%
Count 2,070 2,042 1.36%
Proportion per 100k 0.70 0.76 -8.22%

The history of the last name Erlandson

The surname Erlandson originated in Sweden during the medieval period. It is a patronymic name, meaning it was derived from the given name of a father or ancestor. The name Erland or Erlend was a common Scandinavian name, believed to be a combination of the Old Norse words "ær" meaning "honor" and "land" meaning "land" or "territory."

Erlandson was initially spelled as "Erlendsson" or "Erlendson" in its earliest forms, indicating "son of Erlend." As the name spread across Scandinavia and eventually to other parts of Europe, the spelling evolved into various regional variations, including Erlandson, Erlendsson, and Erlendson.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Erlandson can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian diplomatic documents, dating back to the 13th century. The name is also mentioned in the Icelandic Sagas, a series of literary works from the 13th and 14th centuries that chronicle the lives and exploits of notable Icelandic families and historical figures.

During the Viking Age, the name Erlandson was associated with several notable individuals. One such figure was Erland Thorvaldsson, a Norwegian chieftain and explorer who is believed to have been one of the first Europeans to set foot in North America, predating the voyages of Christopher Columbus.

In the 15th century, a notable bearer of the name was Erland Erlandsson, a Swedish nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Kalmar Union Wars between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Another prominent figure was Erland Erlandsson Kock, a 16th-century Swedish bishop and theologian who was influential in the Swedish Reformation and the establishment of the Church of Sweden.

In the 19th century, Erland Erlandson was a Norwegian-American pioneer and farmer who settled in Minnesota and played a role in the development of the region's agricultural industry.

Throughout history, the surname Erlandson has also been associated with various place names and locations, particularly in Scandinavia. For example, there is an Erlandson Island in Norway, and several villages and towns in Sweden and Denmark have variations of the name, such as Erlandsbo and Erlandsgården.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Erlandson

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

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 Erlandson was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 96.09% 1,989
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 1.01% 21
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 1.01% 21
Hispanic Origin 1.55% 32

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 Erlandson has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 96.09% 97.21% -1.16%
Black (S)% (S)% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.01% 0.73% 32.18%
American Indian and Alaskan Native (S)% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 1.01% 1.27% -22.81%
Hispanic 1.55% 0.64% 83.11%

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

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

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"Erlandson last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on November 22, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/erlandson-surname-popularity/.

"Erlandson last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/erlandson-surname-popularity/. Accessed 22 November, 2024

Erlandson last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/erlandson-surname-popularity/.

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