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

Swensen, 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 Swensen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Swensen in America

Swensen is the 11919th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Swensen surname appeared 2,627 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 Swensen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Swensen 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 Swensen

The surname Swensen originated in Sweden, with its earliest known records dating back to the 16th century. It is a patronymic name, derived from the first name Sven, which is a Swedish variation of the Old Norse name Sveinn. This name is thought to have come from the Old Norse word "svanr," meaning "young man" or "young warrior."

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Swensen surname can be found in the Swedish church records of the late 1500s. These records mention a family by the name of Swensen residing in the town of Malmö, located in the southern region of Sweden. It is likely that the name originally referred to the son of a man named Sven, with the "-sen" suffix being a common patronymic ending in Scandinavian names.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Swensen name began to spread across Scandinavia and into other parts of Europe as people migrated and settled in new areas. In Norway, for instance, there are records of a Swensen family living in the city of Bergen in the late 1700s.

As the name traveled, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Swanson, Swenson, and Svensson. These variations likely arose due to differences in local dialects and the ways in which the name was transcribed or translated from one language to another.

One notable individual bearing the Swensen name was Jens Swensen, a Norwegian-American explorer and adventurer who lived from 1828 to 1901. Swensen was part of the famous Klondike Gold Rush and is credited with discovering a major gold deposit in the Yukon Territory of Canada in the late 1800s.

Another prominent figure with the Swensen surname was Sven Swensen, a Swedish physicist and mathematician who lived from 1893 to 1967. Swensen made significant contributions to the field of quantum mechanics and was a professor at the prestigious University of Stockholm for many years.

In the literary world, the Swedish author and playwright Anna Swensen (1861-1939) gained recognition for her works that explored themes of social justice and women's rights. Her plays were widely performed throughout Scandinavia and helped to raise awareness of important societal issues.

The Swensen name also has ties to the culinary world, with the American businessman and entrepreneur John Swensen (1920-1989) being credited with popularizing the concept of the modern ice cream parlor. His chain of "Swensen's Ice Cream Parlors" became a beloved institution across the United States in the mid-20th century.

Lastly, one cannot discuss the Swensen surname without mentioning the Norwegian-American golfer Knud Swensen (1925-2008). Swensen was a highly successful professional golfer who won multiple PGA Tour events and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1987.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Swensen

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

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

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

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