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

Lov, 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 Lov surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lov in America

Lov is the 85357th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lov surname appeared 219 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 Lov.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lov 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 Lov

The surname LOV originated in Norway during the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Old Norse word "lóf," which means "palm of the hand." The name was likely given to someone with distinctive hands or possibly a craftsman who worked with their hands.

In the 13th century, records show a person named Thorstein Lovson, suggesting the name was in use as a patronymic at that time. The earliest known instance of the surname itself is found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian documents, where a man named Sigurd Lov is mentioned in a deed dated 1342.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the surname was Helge Lov, a Norwegian landowner and farmer who lived in the late 14th century. His descendants can be traced through various land records and parish registers in the Trøndelag region of central Norway.

In the 16th century, the name appeared in the form "Louff" in the Danish Census Book of 1601, which recorded inhabitants of Norway, then under Danish rule. This spelling variation likely arose due to the influence of Danish orthography on Norwegian names.

A prominent figure bearing the name was Niels Lov, a Danish-Norwegian jurist and legal scholar born in 1664. He served as a judge and played a significant role in the codification of Danish-Norwegian law, culminating in the publication of the "Norske Lov" (Norwegian Law) in 1687.

Another notable individual was Peder Lov Schrøder, a Norwegian merchant and ship owner born in 1737. He amassed significant wealth through trading ventures and was instrumental in the development of the Norwegian merchant fleet in the late 18th century.

During the 19th century, the surname Lov began appearing in various parts of Sweden, likely due to migration from Norway. One prominent Swede with this name was Johan Lov, a politician and member of the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) who was born in 1837 and played an active role in the liberal reform movements of his time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lov

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

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

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

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