2000
#149,328
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 101
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.04
Very Rare Last name
Finerson
A Scottish surname derived from 'son of Finner', referring to an ancestral personal name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 130 Americans carry the last name Finerson. That puts it at #147,221 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,636,572 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Finerson surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
130
1 in 2,636,572
Census rank
#147,221
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
113
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 113 bearers of the surname Finerson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 147221st position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Finerson, the largest self-reported group is Black at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (37.2%) and Two or More Races (5.3%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Finerson
The surname Finerson originates from the Scandinavian regions, particularly Norway and Sweden, during the late medieval period. Its roots can be traced back to the Old Norse language, where "fin" meant "fine" or "beautiful," and "er" was a common suffix used to form surnames. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone with an attractive appearance or a pleasing demeanor.
Early records indicate that the name was prevalent in the coastal regions of Norway, where many families bore variations such as Finnerson, Finnarson, and Finnarsson. These spellings reflect the patronymic naming system common in Scandinavian cultures, where a person's surname was derived from their father's given name.
One of the earliest documented instances of the Finerson name can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian diplomatic sources from the Middle Ages. In a document dated 1379, a man named Torstein Finerson is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction in the region of Trondheim.
During the Age of Migration in the 17th and 18th centuries, many Scandinavian families, including those bearing the Finerson name, immigrated to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One notable figure was Nils Finerson, a Swedish settler who arrived in the Delaware Valley region of North America in the late 1600s and established a successful farming community.
In the 19th century, a prominent Finerson was Hans Finerson, a Norwegian sea captain and explorer who documented his voyages to the Arctic regions. His journals, published in 1845, provided valuable insights into the navigation and geography of the northern seas.
Another individual of note was Ingrid Finerson, a Swedish-American author and activist born in 1872. She was a vocal advocate for women's rights and wrote several influential works on gender equality and social reform.
The Finerson name has also been associated with notable achievements in various fields. In the realm of academia, Professor Erik Finerson (1901-1980) was a renowned linguist at the University of Oslo, where he made significant contributions to the study of Scandinavian languages.
Overall, the surname Finerson has a rich history rooted in Scandinavian culture and has been carried by individuals who have made significant contributions across various disciplines throughout the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Finerson
Among Census respondents with the surname Finerson, the largest self-reported group is Black at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (37.2%) and Two or More Races (5.3%).
The bar chart below shows how Finerson bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Finerson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American55.8% · 63
- White37.2% · 42
- Two or more races5.3% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Finerson
Finerson appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#130,610
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 130
+29 bearers (+28.7%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 18,718 places
2020
#147,221
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 113
-17 bearers (-13.1%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 16,611 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #149,328 | 101 | 0.04 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #130,610 | 130 | 0.04 | +29 bearers (+28.7%) | Up 18,718 places |
| 2020 | #147,221 | 113 | 0.04 | -17 bearers (-13.1%) | Down 16,611 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Finerson surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #130,610 | #147,221 | -12.7% |
| Count | 130 | 113 | -13.1% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -5.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Finerson bearers went from 130 to 113 (-13.1% change). The surname moved down 16,611 positions in the national ranking, going from #130,610 to #147,221.
FAQ
Finerson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Finerson?
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the surname Finerson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,636,572 residents.
How common is Finerson?
Finerson ranks #147,221 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 113 people with the surname Finerson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (130), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Finerson.
Has Finerson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Finerson went from 130 recorded bearers to 113. That is a decrease of 17 (-13.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #130,610 to #147,221.
What does the Census say about the background of Finerson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Finerson, the largest self-reported group is Black at 55.8%. The next largest groups are White (37.2%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Black is the largest self-reported group for the surname Finerson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.8% (63 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Finerson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Black (55.8%), White (37.2%), Two or More Races (5.3%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Finerson (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Finerson mean?
A Scottish surname derived from 'son of Finner', referring to an ancestral personal name. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Finerson (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Finerson?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.