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

Ronning, 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 Ronning surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ronning in America

Ronning is the 15080th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ronning surname appeared 1,956 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 Ronning.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ronning 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 Ronning

The surname Ronning is of Norwegian origin, emerging in the Middle Ages around the 13th century. It is derived from the Old Norse word "røyning," which referred to a clearing or a patch of land that had been cleared of trees and vegetation for agricultural purposes. This suggests that the name may have originally been an occupational surname, given to those who worked as land clearers or farmers.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ronning can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian charters and documents from the 12th to the 16th centuries. In a charter dated 1322, a man named Thorstein Ronning is mentioned as a landowner in the region of Romerike, located in eastern Norway.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ronning name was particularly prevalent in the Gudbrandsdalen valley region of central Norway. Several historical records from this period mention individuals bearing the name, often in connection with land ownership or farming activities.

Notable figures with the surname Ronning include Nils Peder Ronning (1801-1888), a Norwegian farmer and politician who served as a member of the Storting, Norway's parliament. Another prominent bearer of the name was Bjørn Ronning (1919-2003), a Norwegian writer and journalist who was awarded the prestigious Dobloug Prize for his literary work.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ronning name spread beyond Norway as many Norwegians immigrated to other parts of the world, particularly North America. One notable example is Nellie Ronning (1884-1964), a Norwegian-American educator and author who founded the Ronning's Folk School in North Dakota, United States.

Other individuals of note with the surname Ronning include Knut Ronning (1891-1959), a Norwegian politician and member of the Storting, and Sten Ronning (1913-1989), a Norwegian writer and poet who was awarded the Gyldendal Prize for his literary contributions.

The name Ronning has also been associated with various place names in Norway, such as Ronningan, a farm in the municipality of Ringsaker, and Ronningen, a village in the municipality of Eidskog, both located in eastern Norway.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ronning

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

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

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

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