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

Jesperson, 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 Jesperson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jesperson in America

Jesperson is the 57234th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jesperson surname appeared 356 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 Jesperson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jesperson 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 Jesperson

The surname Jesperson is of Danish origin and can be traced back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old Norse personal name Jesper, which was a variant of the biblical name Jasper. The name Jasper is thought to come from the Persian word "gâshenbar," meaning "treasurer" or "keeper of the treasure."

Jesperson is a patronymic surname, meaning it was originally formed by adding the suffix "-son" to the given name of the father. This practice was common in Scandinavian countries, including Denmark, during the Middle Ages. The earliest recorded instances of the name Jesperson can be found in Danish parish records and census documents from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Jens Jesperson, a Danish farmer who lived in the village of Svendborg on the island of Funen in the late 16th century. His son, Jesper Jesperson, born in 1602, was a renowned blacksmith and is mentioned in several local historical documents from that time.

In the 17th century, a notable figure with the surname Jesperson was Morten Jesperson (1622-1688), a Lutheran pastor and theologian from the town of Roskilde. He wrote several influential religious texts and was a prominent figure in the Danish church during his lifetime.

Another significant bearer of the name was Niels Jesperson (1780-1852), a Danish naval officer and explorer who is credited with charting and mapping several islands in the South Pacific during his voyages in the early 19th century. His detailed logs and charts were widely used by other navigators and explorers of the time.

In the 19th century, the Jesperson surname was also found in Norway, likely due to migration and intermarriage between the neighboring Scandinavian countries. One notable Norwegian with this name was Hans Jesperson (1833-1917), a renowned linguist and philologist who made significant contributions to the study of the English language and its history.

Throughout history, variations in the spelling of the name have been observed, such as Jespersson, Jesspersson, and Jespersen. However, the modern spelling of Jesperson has been predominantly used since the late 18th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jesperson

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

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

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

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