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

Josephsen, 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 Josephsen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Josephsen in America

Josephsen is the 66164th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Josephsen surname appeared 299 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 Josephsen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Josephsen 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 Josephsen

The surname JOSEPHSEN is of Scandinavian origin, specifically from the countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is a patronymic surname, derived from the given name Joseph, which itself has Hebrew origins meaning "he will add" or "he will increase."

The JOSEPHSEN surname is believed to have emerged in the late medieval period, around the 13th to 15th centuries, as a way to indicate lineage and family ties. It was formed by adding the suffix "-sen" to the given name Joseph, which was a common practice in Scandinavian countries at the time.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the JOSEPHSEN surname can be found in the Danish Census Rolls of 1645, where a Jens Josephsen is listed as a resident of Copenhagen. Another early mention is in the Norwegian Parish Records of 1692, which document the birth of a child named Hans Josephsen in the town of Trondheim.

In Sweden, the JOSEPHSEN surname is believed to have been more prevalent in the southern regions, particularly in the provinces of Skåne and Blekinge. One notable Swedish bearer of the name was Carl Josephsen (1824-1888), a renowned landscape painter from the city of Malmö.

Across the Scandinavian countries, the JOSEPHSEN surname has been associated with various occupations and trades over the centuries. For instance, in the 17th century, there is record of a merchant named Peder Josephsen operating out of the Danish city of Aalborg.

Another noteworthy individual with the JOSEPHSEN surname was Niels Josephsen (1772-1845), a Danish sailor and explorer who accompanied the famous Arctic explorer William Scoresby on several voyages to Greenland and the Arctic regions in the early 19th century.

In Norway, the JOSEPHSEN name has been linked to several notable figures, including the writer and journalist Johan Josephsen (1837-1913), who was born in the town of Moss and became a prominent voice in the Norwegian labor movement.

While the JOSEPHSEN surname has its roots in Scandinavia, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and immigration patterns. However, its historical significance and deep-rooted ties to the Scandinavian region remain a defining aspect of this patronymic surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Josephsen

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

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

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

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