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

Stenson, 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 Stenson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Stenson in America

Stenson is the 9552nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Stenson surname appeared 3,403 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 Stenson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Stenson 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 Stenson

The surname Stenson is of English origin, with roots tracing back to the late 12th century. It is believed to have originated in the county of Derbyshire, where it was derived from the Old English words "stan" meaning stone and "tun" meaning enclosure or farmstead, referring to a stony farm or settlement.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire from 1196, where a person named Randulf de Stantun is mentioned. This is likely an early spelling variation of the name Stenson.

During the 13th century, the name appeared in various records across Derbyshire and neighboring counties, often spelled as Stantun, Staunton, or Stanton. It is possible that some variations were influenced by the nearby village of Stanton, which shares a similar etymology.

In the 14th century, the surname Stenson began to take its more modern spelling, as evidenced by a record from 1349 mentioning a John Stenson in the Subsidy Rolls of Derbyshire.

One notable historical figure with the surname Stenson was Thomas Stenson (c.1555-1608), an English Catholic priest and martyr who was executed during the reign of King James I for his religious beliefs.

Another prominent individual was John Stenson (1619-1679), an English mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of logarithms and the calculation of pi.

In the 18th century, Sir Nicholas Stenson (1718-1781) was a renowned Swedish physician and anatomist, best known for his discovery of the nasal duct, which bears his name as the "Stenon's duct."

The 19th century saw the emergence of Charles Stenson (1819-1893), a British industrialist and inventor who patented several innovations in textile machinery, contributing to the growth of the cotton industry in Lancashire.

More recently, Henrik Stenson (born 1976) is a Swedish professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour, including the prestigious Open Championship in 2016.

While the surname Stenson has its roots in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly through migration and settlement patterns of English families over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Stenson

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

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

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

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