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

Johanson, 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 Johanson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Johanson in America

Johanson is the 6674th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Johanson surname appeared 5,061 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Johanson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Johanson 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 Johanson

The surname Johanson originated in Scandinavia, particularly in Sweden and Norway. It is a patronymic name, meaning it derived from a father's given name Johan, which is the Swedish and Norwegian form of John. The suffix "-son" means "son of" in these Scandinavian languages.

During the Middle Ages, many Scandinavian people only had one name, often derived from their father's name. As population grew and more clarity was needed, surnames like Johanson became more common, indicating the person was the son of a man named Johan.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Johanson can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian diplomas and documents dating back to the 12th century. The name appears in various spellings, such as Johannesson and Johansson.

In the late 16th century, a man named Olof Johanson was recorded as a resident of Gävle, a city in central Sweden. He was likely named after his father, Johan, following the patronymic naming tradition.

Another early example is Nils Johanson, a Swedish soldier who fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) under King Gustavus Adolphus. He was born around 1600 in Småland, Sweden.

In the 18th century, a prominent figure with the surname was Johan Johanson Nauckhoff (1677-1751), a Swedish politician and landowner who served as the Lord of the Realm and Governor of Uppsala County.

During the 19th century, Anders Johanson (1816-1891) was a Swedish-American author and journalist who immigrated to the United States in 1842 and became a vocal advocate for Swedish immigration to the Midwest.

Another notable individual was Johan August Johanson (1861-1927), a Swedish-American businessman and industrialist who founded the J.A. Johanson Manufacturing Company in Chicago, which produced metal products for the construction industry.

As the surname Johanson spread beyond Scandinavia, it evolved into various spellings and forms, such as Johnson, Johansen, and Jansen, reflecting the linguistic influences of different regions and cultures.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Johanson

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

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

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

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