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

Kolstad, 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 Kolstad surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kolstad in America

Kolstad is the 20664th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kolstad surname appeared 1,281 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 Kolstad.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kolstad 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 Kolstad

The surname Kolstad originates from Norway, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 13th century. The name is believed to be derived from the Old Norse words "kollr," meaning "round hill or summit," and "stadr," meaning "place or dwelling." This suggests that the name was likely given to someone who lived near a round hilltop or a settlement situated on such a hill.

One of the earliest known references to the Kolstad surname can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian historical documents from the Middle Ages. In a document dated 1275, a person named Thorstein Kolstad is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction in the Trøndelag region of Norway.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, the name Kolstad appeared in various parish registers and census records across Norway, particularly in the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. Some variations in spelling, such as Kolstad, Kollstad, and Kollestad, were also observed in these records.

A notable figure bearing the Kolstad surname was Hans Kolstad, a Norwegian farmer and politician who lived from 1820 to 1890. He served as a representative in the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) for the Nordre Trondhjems constituency from 1865 to 1868.

Another individual of historical significance was Ingeborg Kolstad, born in 1838 in Sunnfjord, Norway. She was a prominent advocate for women's rights and played a crucial role in the early feminist movement in Norway during the late 19th century.

In the 18th century, the Kolstad name was associated with several farmsteads and villages in various parts of Norway, including Kolstad in Trondheim municipality, Kolstad in Sunnfjord, and Kolstad in Sør-Fron.

Other notable individuals with the Kolstad surname include Olaf Kolstad (1868-1942), a Norwegian-American Lutheran minister and author, and Bjarne Kolstad (1915-2002), a Norwegian businessman and industrialist who founded the Kolstad Group, a major industrial conglomerate in Norway.

While the Kolstad surname is predominantly Norwegian in origin, it has also been found in other Scandinavian countries, likely due to migration and intermingling of populations over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kolstad

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!