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

Sorensen, 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 Sorensen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sorensen in America

Sorensen is the 1251st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sorensen surname appeared 28,069 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 10 people would have the surname Sorensen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sorensen 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 Sorensen

The surname Sorensen originated in Denmark and is a patronymic name, meaning "son of Soren." The name Soren is derived from the Old Norse name Sörr, which is believed to be a shortened form of the name Sveinbiorn, meaning "bear cub." The name Sorensen first appeared in Danish records in the late 15th century.

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Sorensen can be found in Danish parish records and census documents from the 16th and 17th centuries. During this time, the spelling variations included Sörensen, Sørensen, and Sørenssøn. The name was particularly prevalent in the regions of Jutland and Zealand.

One of the earliest known individuals with the surname Sorensen was Hans Sorensen, a merchant who lived in Copenhagen in the late 16th century. Another notable figure was Jens Sorensen, a Danish explorer who accompanied Vitus Bering on his expedition to Alaska in 1741.

In the 19th century, the surname Sorensen became more widely dispersed as many Danes emigrated to other parts of the world, particularly the United States and Canada. One famous bearer of the name was Theodor Sorensen (1928-2010), an American lawyer and speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy.

Other notable individuals with the surname Sorensen include Maren Sofie Sorensen (1873-1950), a Norwegian author and feminist; Viggo Sorensen (1889-1986), a Danish sculptor; and Bjarne Stroustrup (born 1950), a Danish computer scientist known for creating the C++ programming language. His original surname was Sorensen, but he later changed it to Stroustrup.

The surname Sorensen has remained a common name in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries, as well as in areas with significant Danish populations, such as parts of the United States and Canada. It continues to be a recognizable Danish name with a long and rich history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sorensen

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

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

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

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