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

Hanson, 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 Hanson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Hanson in America

Hanson is the 276th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Hanson surname appeared 111,144 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 38 people would have the surname Hanson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Hanson 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 Hanson

The surname Hanson originated in Scandinavia, specifically Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is a patronymic name, meaning it was derived from the father's given name, Hans, which was a common Scandinavian variant of the name John. The suffix "-son" was added to denote "son of."

In medieval times, Scandinavian names often followed the pattern of a given name plus the patronymic suffix "-son" or "-datter" (daughter). This naming convention was widespread in the Viking Age and continued for centuries thereafter. The surname Hanson would have initially identified a person as the son of a man named Hans.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hanson can be found in the Icelandic Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), which dates back to the late 12th century. This text mentions a Norwegian settler named Hansson who arrived in Iceland during the 9th century.

Throughout the Middle Ages and into the early modern period, variations of the name Hanson appeared in various Scandinavian records and manuscripts. These included Hanssen, Hansson, and Hansøn, reflecting regional spelling differences.

Notable individuals with the surname Hanson include Hans Hansson (1529-1610), a Swedish merchant and politician who served as the Mayor of Stockholm. In Norway, there was Peder Hansson (1542-1619), a Lutheran priest and writer known for his translations of religious texts into Norwegian.

Another significant figure was Mårten Hansson (1645-1717), a Swedish military officer who played a crucial role in the Great Northern War against Denmark and Russia. He was awarded the title of Count by King Charles XII for his service.

In the 19th century, Hans Hansson (1823-1901) was a Swedish botanist and horticulturist who made significant contributions to the study of flora in Scandinavia and introduced several new plant species.

As Scandinavian immigrants began settling in other parts of the world, particularly the United States and Canada, the surname Hanson became more widespread. It is now a common surname in many English-speaking countries with Scandinavian heritage.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Hanson

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

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

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

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