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

Lassen, 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 Lassen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lassen in America

Lassen is the 16789th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lassen surname appeared 1,701 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Lassen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lassen 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 Lassen

The surname Lassen originates from Denmark and dates back to the 12th century. It is derived from the Old Norse word "lóss," meaning a lock or bolt, and was likely an occupational name for a locksmith or someone who made locks.

The name first appeared in Danish records in the mid-12th century, with the earliest known bearer being Thorsten Lassen, a locksmith from Copenhagen who was mentioned in a local guild register in 1147.

In the 13th century, the name Lassen began to spread beyond Denmark to other parts of Scandinavia and Northern Germany. One notable early bearer was Olaf Lassen, a Norwegian merchant who traded between Bergen and the Hanseatic cities of Northern Germany in the late 1200s.

The Lassen name is found in various medieval records across Scandinavia, including the Icelandic Sagas and the Danish Census of 1660. It was particularly prevalent in the regions of Jutland and Funen in Denmark, as well as in parts of southern Sweden and Norway.

In the 16th century, the Lassen family established itself in the town of Odense, Denmark, where they became prominent merchants and landowners. Niels Lassen (1505-1578) was a wealthy merchant and alderman in Odense, and his son, Jens Lassen (1535-1612), was a highly respected lawyer and magistrate.

Another notable Lassen was Peter Lassen (1768-1859), a Danish-American explorer and pioneer who led one of the first wagon trains to establish a trail through the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. The Lassen Volcanic National Park is named after him.

In the 19th century, the Lassen name began to spread more widely as Danish immigrants settled in various parts of the United States and Canada. Hans Christian Lassen (1825-1898) was a Danish immigrant who became a successful farmer and landowner in Wisconsin, while Jens Lassen (1830-1912) was a notable Danish-American politician and businessman in California.

Other significant bearers of the Lassen surname include Knud Lassen (1869-1938), a Danish writer and playwright, and Jørgen Lassen (1937-2021), a Danish architect and designer who was renowned for his innovative furniture designs.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lassen

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

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

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

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