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

Nickelson, 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 Nickelson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nickelson in America

Nickelson is the 8936th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nickelson surname appeared 3,664 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 Nickelson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nickelson 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 Nickelson

The surname Nickelson has its origins in northern Europe, particularly in the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden. It is believed to have emerged around the 13th century, deriving from the Old Norse personal name Nikkel, itself a diminutive form of the name Nikolaus or Nicholas.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nickelson can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian medieval diplomatic sources, dating back to the 14th century. The name is also mentioned in the Icelandic Sagas, a series of historical narratives written in the 13th and 14th centuries.

In its earliest forms, the surname was often spelled as Nikkelson, Nickelsen, or Nicholsson, reflecting the variations in spelling and pronunciation that were common during that time. The name is thought to have been initially associated with individuals who were the sons or descendants of someone named Nikkel or Nicholas.

As the name spread across northern Europe, it underwent further modifications and adaptations to suit the local languages and dialects. In Sweden, for example, the name was often rendered as Niklasson or Niclasson, while in Denmark, it took the form of Nikolajsen or Nielson.

One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Nils Nickelson, a Norwegian farmer who lived in the late 14th century and owned land near the town of Trondheim. Another notable figure was Knut Nickelson, a Swedish merchant who traded in the Baltic Sea region in the early 15th century.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Nickelson began to appear in various records across northern Europe, including parish registers, tax rolls, and legal documents. Some notable individuals from this period include:

1. Hans Nickelson (c. 1520-1586), a Danish sailor and explorer who accompanied the first Danish expedition to Greenland in 1578.
2. Ingrid Nickelson (c. 1570-1642), a Norwegian landowner and businesswoman who owned several farms and mills in the Vestfold region.
3. Erik Nickelson (c. 1610-1678), a Swedish soldier who fought in the Thirty Years' War and later became a landowner in the province of Småland.
4. Olav Nickelson (c. 1650-1712), a Norwegian clergyman and author who wrote several religious treatises and served as a parish priest in Trondheim.
5. Johanna Nickelson (c. 1680-1745), a Danish midwife and herbalist who practiced in the city of Copenhagen and was renowned for her knowledge of traditional remedies.

Over time, the name Nickelson continued to spread and evolve, with various branches and spelling variations emerging in different parts of northern Europe and beyond.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nickelson

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

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

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

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