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

Norbeck, 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 Norbeck surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Norbeck in America

Norbeck is the 44109th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Norbeck surname appeared 488 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 Norbeck.

We can also compare 2010 data for Norbeck 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 Norbeck

The surname Norbeck is of Scandinavian origin, derived from the Old Norse words "norðr" meaning "north" and "bekkr" meaning "stream" or "brook." It likely originated in Norway or Sweden during the Viking Age (793-1066 AD).

The name was likely first used to describe someone who lived near a northern stream or brook. Variations of the spelling include Nordbeck, Nordbäck, and Nordbäkk.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Norbeck can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of Norwegian medieval documents dating back to the 12th century. The name is mentioned in a legal document from the year 1237, referring to a man named Thorvald Norbeck.

In Sweden, the earliest known bearer of the name was Olof Norbeck, born in 1596 in the village of Torsåker, Gästrikland. He was a farmer and landowner.

During the 17th century, several members of the Norbeck family served as government officials and military officers in Sweden. Notable individuals include:

• Johan Norbeck (1611-1679), a Swedish colonel and governor of the Ingria region.
• Axel Norbeck (1650-1719), a Swedish nobleman and colonel in the Cavalry.
• Erik Norbeck (1677-1744), a Swedish merchant and ship owner in Gothenburg.

In the 19th century, the name Norbeck appeared in Norway with Anders Norbeck (1810-1885), a prominent businessman and ship owner from Bergen.

Another notable bearer of the name was the American paleontologist and explorer Earl Douglass (1862-1931), whose mother's maiden name was Norbeck. He is famous for discovering the first fossil remains of the dinosaur Apatosaurus in Utah in 1909.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Norbeck

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

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

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

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