2000
#123,314
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 129
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.05
Very Rare Last name
Gunneson
A surname of Scandinavian origin meaning "son of Gunne".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 132 Americans carry the last name Gunneson. That puts it at #145,757 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,596,624 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gunneson 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
132
1 in 2,596,624
Census rank
#145,757
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
115
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 115 bearers of the surname Gunneson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 145757th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gunneson, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and Black (0.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gunneson
The surname Gunneson is of Scandinavian origin, deriving from the Old Norse name Gunnarr. It emerged in Norway and Sweden during the Viking Age, which lasted from the late 8th century to the late 11th century.
This patronymic surname is formed by combining the given name Gunnar with the Old Norse suffix -son, meaning "son of." The name Gunnar itself is thought to be derived from the Old Norse words "gunnr" meaning war and "arr" meaning warrior, essentially translating to "war warrior."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gunneson can be found in the Landnámabók, a medieval Icelandic manuscript detailing the settlement of Iceland in the 9th and 10th centuries. The manuscript mentions a settler named Gunnar Gunneson, who established a homestead in the region of Siglunes.
Another notable figure bearing the name Gunneson was Gunnar Gunneson, a Norwegian chieftain who lived in the late 11th century. He is mentioned in the Heimskringla, a collection of sagas written by the Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.
In England, the name Gunneson can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, which records a landowner named Gunnar Gunneson in the county of Yorkshire. This suggests that individuals with this surname had already migrated from Scandinavia to England by the late 11th century.
During the Middle Ages, variations of the name emerged, such as Gunnerson, Gunnarsson, and Gunnarson. In Scotland, the name took on the form of Gunson, as evidenced by records dating back to the 14th century.
One notable individual with the surname Gunneson was Olaf Gunneson, a Danish-Norwegian explorer who is believed to have been the first European to sight the Antarctic mainland in the early 19th century. Another notable figure was Gunnar Gunneson, a Swedish artist and sculptor active in the late 19th century.
In more recent history, Gunnerson Astrup Nessa was a Norwegian politician and member of the Storting (the Norwegian parliament) in the early 20th century. Additionally, Gunnar Gunneson was a Swedish footballer who played for several clubs in the 1930s and 1940s.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gunneson
Among Census respondents with the surname Gunneson, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and Black (0.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Gunneson 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 Gunneson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.7% · 110
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 3
- Black or African American0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gunneson
Gunneson 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
#129,825
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 131
+2 bearers (+1.6%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 6,511 places
2020
#145,757
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 115
-16 bearers (-12.2%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Down 15,932 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #123,314 | 129 | 0.05 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #129,825 | 131 | 0.04 | +2 bearers (+1.6%) | Down 6,511 places |
| 2020 | #145,757 | 115 | 0.04 | -16 bearers (-12.2%) | Down 15,932 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 Gunneson 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 | #129,825 | #145,757 | -12.3% |
| Count | 131 | 115 | -12.2% |
| Per 100K | 0.04 | 0.04 | -3.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gunneson bearers went from 131 to 115 (-12.2% change). The surname moved down 15,932 positions in the national ranking, going from #129,825 to #145,757.
FAQ
Gunneson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gunneson?
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the surname Gunneson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,596,624 residents.
How common is Gunneson?
Gunneson ranks #145,757 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 115 people with the surname Gunneson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (132), 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 Gunneson.
Has Gunneson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gunneson went from 131 recorded bearers to 115. That is a decrease of 16 (-12.2%). In the national ranking it fell from #129,825 to #145,757.
What does the Census say about the background of Gunneson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gunneson, the largest self-reported group is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and Black (0.9%). 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?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Gunneson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (110 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gunneson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (95.7%), Hispanic (2.6%), Black (0.9%). 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 Gunneson (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 Gunneson mean?
A surname of Scandinavian origin meaning "son of Gunne". 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 Gunneson (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 common is the surname Gunneson?
You can see how many Americans have the surname Gunneson on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.