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

Nilsson, 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 Nilsson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nilsson in America

Nilsson is the 10001st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nilsson surname appeared 3,223 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 Nilsson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nilsson 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 Nilsson

The surname Nilsson originated in Sweden during the medieval period. It is a patronymic name, meaning "son of Nils". Nils is a common Swedish name derived from the Old Norse name Nīkolāss, which was ultimately borrowed from the Greek name Nikolaos, meaning "victory of the people".

Nilsson is one of the most widespread surnames in Sweden, particularly in the southern regions of Skåne, Halland, and Blekinge. This reflects the popularity of the given name Nils in these areas during the Middle Ages when patronymic surnames became more widespread.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Nilsson surname can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian diplomatic documents. The name appears in a charter dated 1389, referring to a man named Niels Nielsson from Skåne.

In the 16th century, the Swedish church began keeping more systematic records of births, marriages, and deaths. These records provide numerous examples of individuals with the Nilsson surname, such as Ingeborg Nilsdotter (born around 1550) from Småland.

During the 17th century, several notable individuals with the Nilsson surname emerged. One was Johan Nilsson Gerdner (1607-1679), a Swedish military officer and governor of Ingria (now part of Russia). Another was Nils Nilsson Vissingsbo (1617-1688), a Swedish clergyman and author.

In the 18th century, a prominent Nilsson was Anders Nilsson Sundblad (1739-1793), a Swedish mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The 19th century saw the rise of several notable Nilssons in various fields. These included Carl Gustaf Nilsson (1811-1892), a Swedish landscape painter; Christina Nilsson (1843-1921), a renowned Swedish operatic soprano; and August Nilsson (1839-1912), a Swedish playwright and novelist.

In the 20th century, some well-known individuals with the Nilsson surname included Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005), a celebrated Swedish operatic soprano; Lennart Nilsson (1922-2017), a Swedish photographer and researcher known for his pioneering images of human embryos; and Harry Nilsson (1941-1994), an American singer-songwriter known for hits such as "Without You" and "Coconut".

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nilsson

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

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

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

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