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

Holmquist, 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 Holmquist surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Holmquist in America

Holmquist is the 9563rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Holmquist surname appeared 3,399 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 Holmquist.

We can also compare 2010 data for Holmquist 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 Holmquist

The surname Holmquist originated in Sweden, deriving from the Old Norse words "holmr" meaning a small island or river holme, and "qvist" meaning a tree branch. It was initially a topographic name given to someone who lived on a small island or near a river holme surrounded by branches or trees.

The earliest recorded spelling of the name dates back to the 13th century, when a Holmqvist family was mentioned in the Diplomatarium Suecanum, a collection of medieval Swedish diplomatic documents. Similar spellings from that period include Holmquist, Holmkvist, and Holmkwist.

In the late 15th century, a Henrik Holmquist was recorded as a landowner in the Västergötland region of Sweden. Another early mention is of a Brynolf Holmquist, a clergyman who served as a canon in the Linköping Cathedral in the 1520s.

The name Holmquist can also be found in the Älvsborgs lösen, a historic tax record from the 16th century, which lists several individuals with this surname living in the Älvsborg County of southwestern Sweden.

A notable Holmquist from the 17th century was Johan Holmquist (1639-1701), a Swedish clergyman and author who served as the rector of the Linköping Cathedral School.

In the 19th century, Carl Adolf Holmquist (1819-1892) was a Swedish politician and journalist who served as a member of the Riksdag, the national legislature of Sweden.

Another prominent individual was Hjalmar Holmquist (1884-1952), a Swedish artist and illustrator known for his illustrations of fairy tales and Swedish folklore.

While the name is particularly common in Sweden, it has also spread to other parts of the world through emigration. For example, John Holmquist (1853-1935) was a Swedish-American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Holmquist Watch Company in New York.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Holmquist

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

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

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

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