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

Jakobsen, 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 Jakobsen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jakobsen in America

Jakobsen is the 51066th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jakobsen surname appeared 408 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Jakobsen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jakobsen 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 Jakobsen

The surname Jakobsen is of Danish and Norwegian origin, deriving from the patronymic naming system prevalent in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages. It is a combination of the personal name Jakob, the Scandinavian variant of the Hebrew name Jacob, and the suffix "-sen" which means "son of." Thus, Jakobsen refers to "son of Jakob."

The name Jakob itself has biblical roots, stemming from the Hebrew name Ya'aqov, meaning "supplanter" or "he who follows." In the Book of Genesis, Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebecca, and the younger twin brother of Esau. The name gained widespread popularity across Europe due to its association with the biblical figure.

The earliest known records of the surname Jakobsen date back to the 16th century in Denmark and Norway. One of the earliest documented individuals with this name was Jens Jakobsen, a Danish farmer who lived in the village of Rødby on the island of Lolland in the 1550s.

Another notable figure was Rasmus Jakobsen, a Norwegian priest and scholar born in 1670 in Sunnmøre, Norway. He was known for his contributions to the study of Old Norse literature and language.

In the 17th century, the surname Jakobsen appeared in various historical records, including parish registers and land deeds. For instance, the name was found in the parish records of Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, where several families with the surname Jakobsen were documented.

One of the most famous individuals with the surname Jakobsen was Jakob Jakobsen, a Danish linguist and scholar born in 1864 on the island of Funen. He made significant contributions to the study of Faroese language and culture, publishing numerous works on the subject.

Another notable figure was Jens Jakobsen, a Norwegian sailor and explorer born in 1837 in Drammen. He was part of the Gjøa expedition, the first to navigate the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, between 1903 and 1906.

In the 20th century, Arne Jakobsen, a Danish author and journalist born in 1923, gained recognition for his works on Danish history and culture. He was also a prolific translator, rendering works by authors such as Ernest Hemingway into Danish.

While the surname Jakobsen has its roots in Denmark and Norway, it has since spread to other parts of the world due to migration and diaspora communities. However, its origins can be traced back to the ancient practice of patronymic naming in Scandinavia, where it signified being the "son of Jakob."

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jakobsen

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

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

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

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