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

Rydberg, 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 Rydberg surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Rydberg in America

Rydberg is the 21184th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Rydberg surname appeared 1,239 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 Rydberg.

We can also compare 2010 data for Rydberg 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 Rydberg

The surname Rydberg originated in Sweden and is derived from the Old Swedish word "ryd," which means a clearing or a small farm. The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages when many Swedes adopted surnames based on their occupations or the locations where they lived.

The earliest known record of the Rydberg surname dates back to the 15th century. In 1487, a man named Olof Rydberg was mentioned in a land registry document from the province of Småland in southern Sweden. This suggests that the Rydberg family may have owned or worked on a small farm in that region.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Rydberg name appeared in various historical records and documents from different parts of Sweden. One notable example is the Swedish explorer and cartographer Anders Rydberg (1571-1647), who was involved in mapping the coastlines of northern Sweden and Finland.

In the 18th century, the Rydberg surname was particularly prevalent in the Swedish provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland. Several villages and farms in these areas had names that included the word "ryd," indicating the rural origins of the Rydberg family.

One of the most famous individuals with the Rydberg surname was the Swedish poet and author Viktor Rydberg (1828-1895). He was a prominent figure in the literary movement known as the Swedish Romantic Nationalism and is considered one of the greatest Swedish writers of the 19th century.

Other notable individuals with the Rydberg surname include:

1. Johannes Rydberg (1851-1923), a Swedish physicist known for his work on the structure of atoms and the Rydberg formula in atomic physics.
2. Sven Rydberg (1888-1951), a Swedish gymnast who won a gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London.
3. Gunnar Rydberg (1901-1972), a Swedish politician and diplomat who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1962.
4. Rolf Rydberg (1918-2004), a Swedish actor and theater director who was the founder and artistic director of the Dramaten theater in Stockholm.
5. Eva Rydberg (1890-1967), a Swedish author and journalist who wrote several novels and short stories depicting life in rural Sweden.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Rydberg

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

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

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

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