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

Leifson, 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 Leifson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Leifson in America

Leifson is the 79075th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Leifson surname appeared 241 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 Leifson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Leifson 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 Leifson

The surname Leifson is of Scandinavian origin, specifically Norwegian. It originated during the Viking Age, around the 8th to 11th centuries. The name is a patronymic, meaning it was derived from the first name of an ancestor. In this case, Leifson means "son of Leif".

Leif was an Old Norse name that means "heir" or "descendant". It was a popular name among the Vikings and has continued to be used in Norway and other Scandinavian countries over the centuries. The Old Norse spelling was Leifr, which later evolved into the modern Norwegian spelling of Leif.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leifson can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which were written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas often mentioned individuals with patronymic surnames, including Leifson. However, the exact individuals referred to are not always clear.

One notable figure with the surname Leifson was Leif Eiriksson, the renowned Norse explorer who is credited with being the first European to discover North America around the year 1000 CE. He was the son of Erik the Red, and his full name was Leif Eiriksson, with the patronymic "son of Erik".

Another historical figure with the surname Leifson was Thorstein Leifsson, who was the son of Leif Eiriksson. He is mentioned in the Saga of Erik the Red and is said to have accompanied his father on one of his voyages to Vinland (North America) in the early 11th century.

In the 14th century, there was a Norwegian chieftain named Gaute Leifsson who is mentioned in the Icelandic Annals. He was involved in a dispute with the King of Norway over land rights in the region of Trøndelag.

During the 16th century, there was a Norwegian churchman named Jens Leifsson who served as the Bishop of Stavanger from 1544 to 1556. He played a role in the Reformation in Norway and the transition from Catholicism to Protestantism.

In more recent times, one notable individual with the surname Leifson was Sigurd Leifson, a Norwegian-American sculptor who lived from 1887 to 1969. He is known for his public works of art, including the Minnesota Viking statue in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Leifson

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Leifson, 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!