2000
#2,896
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,377
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.22
Uncommon Last name
Halverson
Derived from a patronymic name meaning "son of Halvor," a Scandinavian personal name of uncertain origin.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 12,453 Americans carry the last name Halverson. That puts it at #3,245 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 3.63 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 27,524 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Halverson 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
12K
1 in 27,524
Census rank
#3,245
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
3.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
11K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 10,860 bearers of the surname Halverson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 3.63 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 3245th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Halverson, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Halverson
The surname Halverson has its origins in Scandinavia, specifically Norway and Sweden. It is a patronymic surname, meaning it was originally derived from the given name of a father or ancestor. The name is believed to have emerged in the Middle Ages, sometime between the 11th and 15th centuries.
The name Halverson is composed of two elements: "Halv" and "son." The first part, "Halv," is derived from the Old Norse word "halfr," meaning "half" or "side." This could suggest that the original bearer of the name was associated with a particular side or region. The second part, "son," is a common patronymic suffix indicating the person was the son of someone named Halv or a variation thereof.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Halverson can be found in the medieval Norwegian census records, known as the "Diplomatorium Norvegicum," from the 13th century. This document mentions a man named "Halverson Olafsson," indicating that he was the son of a man named Olaf, and his own given name was Halverson.
In Sweden, the name Halverson appears in the Swedish Census Book of 1890, which lists several individuals with this surname residing in various parts of the country. One notable example is Johan Halverson (1819-1892), a Swedish farmer and landowner from Dalarna County.
Another historical figure bearing the Halverson name is Hans Halverson (1554-1635), a Norwegian explorer and navigator who is credited with being one of the first Europeans to sight the Antarctic mainland in 1624. His voyage and sightings are documented in various maritime records and journals from the early 17th century.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Halverson can be found in the New York Passenger Lists of 1820, which lists the arrival of an immigrant named Nils Halverson from Norway. Another notable American with this surname was Carl Halverson (1876-1949), a Norwegian-American businessman and politician who served as the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1919 to 1921.
Other historical figures with the Halverson surname include Ingrid Halverson (1887-1972), a Norwegian-American author and educator who wrote several books on Scandinavian history and culture, and Ole Halverson (1809-1887), a Norwegian-American farmer and pioneer who settled in Wisconsin in the mid-19th century and played a role in the development of the state's agricultural industry.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Halverson
Among Census respondents with the surname Halverson, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Halverson 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 Halverson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.3% · 10,020
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 320
- Two or more races2.9% · 317
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 99
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 59
- Black or African American0.4% · 45
Timeline
Historical Census data for Halverson
Halverson 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
#3,040
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 11,781
+404 bearers (+3.6%)
Per 100,000 3.99
Rank movement Down 144 places
2020
#3,245
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 10,860
-921 bearers (-7.8%)
Per 100,000 3.63
Rank movement Down 205 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,896 | 11,377 | 4.22 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,040 | 11,781 | 3.99 | +404 bearers (+3.6%) | Down 144 places |
| 2020 | #3,245 | 10,860 | 3.63 | -921 bearers (-7.8%) | Down 205 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 Halverson 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 | #3,040 | #3,245 | -6.7% |
| Count | 11,781 | 10,860 | -7.8% |
| Per 100K | 3.99 | 3.63 | -8.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Halverson bearers went from 11,781 to 10,860 (-7.8% change). The surname moved down 205 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,040 to #3,245.
FAQ
Halverson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Halverson?
Name Census estimates that about 12,453 living Americans carry the surname Halverson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 27,524 residents.
How common is Halverson?
Halverson ranks #3,245 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 3.63 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 10,860 people with the surname Halverson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (12,453), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 3.63 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 3.63 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Halverson.
Has Halverson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Halverson went from 11,781 recorded bearers to 10,860. That is a decrease of 921 (-7.8%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,040 to #3,245.
What does the Census say about the background of Halverson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Halverson, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Halverson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.3% (10,020 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Halverson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.3%), Hispanic (2.9%), Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Halverson (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 Halverson mean?
Derived from a patronymic name meaning "son of Halvor," a Scandinavian personal name of uncertain origin. 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 Halverson (3.63 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 share the surname Halverson?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.