2000
#14,273
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,926
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.71
Rare Last name
Saetern
A Scandinavian surname derived from the Old Norse word "sætr," referring to a mountain pasture or summer farm.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,218 Americans carry the last name Saetern. That puts it at #14,740 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 154,533 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Saetern surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
2.2K
1 in 154,533
Census rank
#14,740
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.6
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
1.9K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 1,934 bearers of the surname Saetern in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 14740th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Saetern, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Saetern
The surname SAETERN originated in Norway during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old Norse words "sætr" meaning a mountain pasture or summer farm, and "ærne" which means an eagle. The name likely referred to someone who lived or worked at a mountain pasture frequented by eagles.
The earliest recorded example of the SAETERN name dates back to the 13th century, appearing in a land registry from the Gudbrandsdalen valley region of central Norway. Variations of the spelling included Saettern, Sættern, and Sæteren.
In the 16th century, a farmer named Torbjørn Saetern was recorded as owning land near the present-day town of Lom in Oppland county. His descendants continued to use the surname in that area for generations.
The SAETERN name is also found in historical records from the Telemark region of southern Norway, suggesting it may have independent origins there as well. A man named Halvor Saetern was listed as a landowner in Kviteseid parish in the late 1600s.
One of the earliest documented instances of the name outside of Norway comes from Iceland in the 1700s. Jón Sætern, born in 1712, was a farmer and merchant from Sauðárkrókur in the northwest of the island.
Notable individuals with the SAETERN surname include Peder Saetern, a 19th century Norwegian explorer who traveled extensively in Siberia and wrote about the indigenous peoples there. His dates are 1828-1895. Knut Saetern (1862-1931) was a prolific Norwegian novelist and playwright during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In more recent times, Ingrid Saetern (1915-2002) was a prominent Norwegian textile artist renowned for her intricate weavings inspired by traditional folk designs. Ola Sætern (born 1935) is a former cross-country skier who won multiple medals competing for Norway in the 1960 and 1964 Winter Olympics.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saetern
Among Census respondents with the surname Saetern, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Saetern bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Saetern surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.5% · 1,847
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 43
- Two or more races1.8% · 35
- White0.4% · 7
- Black or African American0.1% · 2
Timeline
Historical Census data for Saetern
Saetern appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#14,058
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,142
+216 bearers (+11.2%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Up 215 places
2020
#14,740
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 1,934
-208 bearers (-9.7%)
Per 100,000 0.65
Rank movement Down 682 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #14,273 | 1,926 | 0.71 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #14,058 | 2,142 | 0.73 | +216 bearers (+11.2%) | Up 215 places |
| 2020 | #14,740 | 1,934 | 0.65 | -208 bearers (-9.7%) | Down 682 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Saetern surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #14,058 | #14,740 | -4.9% |
| Count | 2,142 | 1,934 | -9.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.73 | 0.65 | -11.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Saetern bearers went from 2,142 to 1,934 (-9.7% change). The surname moved down 682 positions in the national ranking, going from #14,058 to #14,740.
FAQ
Saetern surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Saetern?
Name Census estimates that about 2,218 living Americans carry the surname Saetern. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 154,533 residents.
How common is Saetern?
Saetern ranks #14,740 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.65 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 1,934 people with the surname Saetern. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,218), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.65 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.65 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Saetern.
Has Saetern become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Saetern went from 2,142 recorded bearers to 1,934. That is a decrease of 208 (-9.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #14,058 to #14,740.
What does the Census say about the background of Saetern?
Among Census respondents with the surname Saetern, the largest self-reported group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest self-reported group for the surname Saetern in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.5% (1,847 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Saetern appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are Asian/Pacific Islander (95.5%), Hispanic (2.2%), Two or More Races (1.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Saetern (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Saetern mean?
A Scandinavian surname derived from the Old Norse word "sætr," referring to a mountain pasture or summer farm. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Saetern (0.65 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people share the surname Saetern?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.