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

Mortenson, 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 Mortenson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mortenson in America

Mortenson is the 7710th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mortenson surname appeared 4,306 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 Mortenson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mortenson 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 Mortenson

The surname Mortenson originated in Scandinavia, specifically in the regions of Norway and Sweden. Its roots can be traced back to the Old Norse language, where it was derived from the combination of the words "mor" meaning "moor" or "marsh" and "tun" meaning "farm" or "homestead." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to people who lived on or near a marshy or swampy area.

In its earliest known forms, the name was spelled as "Mortunsson" or "Mortunsen" in Norway and Sweden. It is believed to have emerged as a patronymic surname, denoting the son of someone named Mortun or a variant thereof.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian medieval documents dating back to the 13th century. Here, the name appeared as "Mortunsson" in a document from the year 1279.

As the name spread across Scandinavia and eventually to other parts of Europe, it underwent various spelling variations, such as "Mortensen," "Mortinson," and "Mortenson." These changes were often influenced by local dialects and linguistic adaptations.

Among notable historical figures bearing the Mortenson surname, one can mention:

1. Anders Mortenson (1678-1741), a Norwegian farmer and landowner who played a significant role in the early settlement of the Telemark region in Norway.

2. Johan Mortenson (1811-1893), a Swedish-born American pioneer and farmer who was among the first settlers in the Red River Valley of Minnesota.

3. Olaf Mortenson (1857-1935), a Norwegian-American architect known for designing numerous churches and public buildings in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

4. Ingrid Mortenson (1904-1988), a Swedish painter and sculptor whose works were heavily influenced by the Scandinavian modernist movement.

5. Lars Mortenson (born 1957), a Danish historian and author who has written extensively on the Viking Age and the early medieval period in Scandinavia.

As the name spread across continents due to migration and exploration, it continued to evolve and adapt to local linguistic and cultural influences, reflecting the rich tapestry of human history and the diverse paths taken by those who carried this surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mortenson

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

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

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