Oleen last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Oleen

A surname potentially derived from the Hebrew name Olam or the Greek word oleon meaning "whole" or "entire".

Oleen, 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 Oleen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Oleen in America

Oleen is the 123796th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Oleen surname appeared 139 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 Oleen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Oleen 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 123796 114166 8.09%
Count 139 142 -2.14%
Proportion per 100k 0.05 0.05 0.00%

The history of the last name Oleen

The surname OLEEN is of Norwegian origin, with roots tracing back to the 9th century. It is believed to have originated from the Old Norse word "ólafr," meaning "ancestor's descendant." This name was commonly used in Norway during the Viking Age, particularly among those residing in the western coastal regions.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name OLEEN can be found in the Landnámabók, an Icelandic manuscript detailing the settlement of Iceland in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. The text references an individual named Olaf Thordarson, who bore a variant spelling of the name.

During the Middle Ages, the OLEEN surname was prevalent in the fjord regions of western Norway, particularly in the areas surrounding Bergen and Stavanger. It was also found in the Sunnmøre district, where the name was often spelled as "Olen" or "Oline."

In the 14th century, a Norwegian landowner named Olav Olesen is recorded as having owned substantial properties in the Sunnmøre region. His descendants likely carried on the OLEEN surname for generations.

In the 16th century, a prominent figure named Hans Olsen Oleen (1505-1572) was a Norwegian nobleman and military commander who fought in the Northern Seven Years' War between Denmark-Norway and Sweden.

Another notable individual was Ingrid Oleen (1692-1768), a Norwegian poet and songwriter from the Hardanger region, renowned for her intricate ballads and folk compositions.

During the 18th century, a wealthy merchant named Johan Oleen (1724-1798) established a successful trading company in the city of Trondheim, dealing in goods from across Scandinavia and continental Europe.

The 19th century saw the migration of many Norwegians bearing the OLEEN surname to North America, with significant numbers settling in the Midwestern United States and various provinces of Canada.

One prominent figure from this era was Nils Oleen (1835-1912), a Norwegian-American farmer and politician who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly in the late 1800s.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Oleen

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

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 Oleen was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 94.24% 131
Non-Hispanic Black Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only (S)% (S)
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races (S)% (S)
Hispanic Origin (S)% (S)

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 Oleen has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 94.24% 96.48% -2.35%
Black (S)% 0.00% (S)%
Asian and Pacific Islander (S)% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
Two or More Races (S)% (S)% (S)%
Hispanic (S)% (S)% (S)%

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

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

"Oleen last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on August 2, 2025. http://namecensus.com/last-names/oleen-surname-popularity/.

"Oleen last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/oleen-surname-popularity/. Accessed 2 August, 2025

Oleen last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/oleen-surname-popularity/.

Search for a name

Search for a first or last name to learn more about its origin, meaning, and more.

Simple as that.