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

Olsson, 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 Olsson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Olsson in America

Olsson is the 11954th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Olsson surname appeared 2,615 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 Olsson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Olsson 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 Olsson

The surname Olsson is of Swedish origin and dates back to the medieval period. It is a patronymic name, meaning "son of Olle," with Olle being a Swedish diminutive form of the name Olof or Olav. The name Olav itself is derived from the Old Norse name Áleifr, which consists of the elements "anu" (ancestor) and "leifr" (descendant, heir).

Olsson was a common name among the peasant and farming communities of Sweden, particularly in the central and southern regions. It can be found in various historical records, including parish registers and census rolls from the 16th century onwards.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Olsson can be traced back to the early 15th century, when a man named Olof Olsson is mentioned in the records of the city of Lund, located in the southern province of Skåne.

In the 17th century, the explorer and cartographer, Johan Olsson Grubbe (1624-1708), made significant contributions to the mapping of the Baltic Sea region and served as a naval officer under the Swedish king, Charles XI.

Johan Olsson Lindhagen (1776-1856) was a notable Swedish politician and jurist who served as the Lord Chief Justice of Sweden during the mid-19th century.

Another notable figure was the Swedish writer and playwright, August Olsson (1885-1929), who is best known for his novels and plays depicting the lives of working-class people in Stockholm.

Nils Olsson (1909-1996) was a renowned Swedish-American historian and genealogist, who made significant contributions to the study of Swedish immigration to the United States.

The name Olsson has also been associated with various place names in Sweden, such as Olssons farm (Olssons gård) or Olsson's village (Olssons by), which reflect the widespread use of the name in different regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Olsson

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

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

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

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