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

Nordgren, 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 Nordgren surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nordgren in America

Nordgren is the 26086th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nordgren surname appeared 939 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 Nordgren.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nordgren 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 Nordgren

The surname Nordgren has its origins in Sweden, tracing back to the 17th century. It is derived from the Swedish words "nord" meaning north and "gren" meaning branch or twig. This suggests that the name may have been given to someone who lived in the northern region of Sweden or perhaps near a prominent northern branch of a river or forest.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nordgren appears in the Swedish Church Records from the parish of Björsäter in Östergötland County, dated 1678. The record mentions a farm laborer named Anders Nordgren. These church records were instrumental in documenting the names and vital statistics of Swedish citizens during that era.

During the 18th century, the name Nordgren began to appear in various regions of Sweden, including Småland, Värmland, and Dalarna. One notable bearer of the name was Carl Gustaf Nordgren, a Swedish politician and military officer who lived from 1778 to 1857. He served as the Governor of Norrbotten County, one of the northernmost counties in Sweden, from 1824 to 1844.

In the 19th century, the name Nordgren became more widespread across Sweden. Johan August Nordgren, born in 1824 in Östergötland, was a Swedish-American painter known for his landscape paintings of the American West. He immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s and spent much of his career in California.

Another notable figure was Johan Alfred Nordgren, a Swedish engineer and inventor born in 1857 in Kalmar County. He is best known for his work on early designs for the modern-day toaster, which he patented in 1919.

As Sweden experienced waves of emigration to North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many individuals with the surname Nordgren settled in various parts of the United States and Canada. One prominent example is Oscar Nordgren, a Swedish-American businessman born in 1888 in Småland, Sweden. He co-founded the Nordgren Brothers Shoe Company in Minnesota, which became a successful footwear manufacturing business in the early 20th century.

While the surname Nordgren is not among the most common in Sweden, it has a rich history dating back several centuries and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including politicians, artists, inventors, and entrepreneurs.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nordgren

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

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

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

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