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

Jacobsen, 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 Jacobsen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jacobsen in America

Jacobsen is the 1914th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jacobsen surname appeared 18,820 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Jacobsen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jacobsen 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 Jacobsen

The surname Jacobsen is of Scandinavian origin, specifically Danish and Norwegian. It is a patronymic name, meaning it was originally derived from the personal name Jacob, which itself comes from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, meaning "supplanter" or "heel-catcher."

In Denmark and Norway, the name Jacobsen emerged as a common surname in the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It was formed by adding the patronymic suffix "-sen" to the personal name Jacob, creating a name that literally means "son of Jacob."

The earliest recorded instances of the name Jacobsen can be found in Danish and Norwegian historical records and church registers from the 16th and 17th centuries. Some notable individuals with this surname from this era include Hans Jacobsen (1565-1636), a Danish astronomer and mathematician, and Jens Jacobsen (1591-1654), a Norwegian clergyman and writer.

Throughout the centuries, the Jacobsen surname has been associated with various notable figures across different fields. One prominent example is Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971), a renowned Danish architect and furniture designer, known for his contributions to the Danish modern style.

Another noteworthy bearer of the name is Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847-1885), a Danish novelist and poet who is considered one of the pioneers of the modern breakthrough in Scandinavian literature. His novel "Niels Lyhne" is regarded as a seminal work in Danish literature.

In the realm of science, Søren Jacobsen (1940-2021) was a Danish-American geochemist and professor at Harvard University, renowned for his contributions to the study of the Earth's mantle and the formation of the Solar System.

Moving to the arts, Jens Ferdinand Willumsen (1863-1958), a Danish painter and sculptor, was born Jens Ferdinand Jacobsen but later changed his surname to Willumsen.

Lastly, Ivar Jacobsen (born 1939) is a Norwegian computer scientist and software engineer, best known for his work on object-oriented software engineering and the development of the Unified Modeling Language (UML).

These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the Jacobsen surname throughout history, reflecting the rich cultural heritage and diverse accomplishments associated with this name of Scandinavian origin.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jacobsen

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

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

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

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