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

Thoresen, 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 Thoresen surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Thoresen in America

Thoresen is the 33695th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Thoresen surname appeared 676 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 Thoresen.

We can also compare 2010 data for Thoresen 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 Thoresen

The surname Thoresen has its origins in Norway, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old Norse personal name Thorir, which itself is a compound of the elements "Thor" (the name of the Norse god of thunder) and "arr" (a warrior or hero). The suffix "-sen" indicates the patronymic naming tradition, meaning "son of."

Thoresen is a variant spelling of the more common Norwegian surname Thoresen, which can be traced back to the 13th century. It is believed that the name first emerged in the western coastal regions of Norway, particularly in the areas around Bergen and Stavanger.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Thoresen name can be found in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, a collection of medieval Norwegian documents dating back to the 12th century. In this collection, a man named Thorir Thoresen is mentioned in a legal document from the year 1276.

In the 14th century, the Thoresen name appears in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of historical narratives that recount the lives of prominent Icelandic families and their Norwegian ancestors. One notable example is Thorstein Thoresen, a Norwegian chieftain who is said to have settled in Iceland in the late 9th century.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, as Norwegian migration to other parts of Europe and the Americas increased, the Thoresen name began to spread beyond its homeland. One notable bearer of the name was Hans Thoresen (1572-1635), a Norwegian merchant and ship owner who established trade routes between Norway and the Netherlands.

In the 19th century, several individuals with the Thoresen surname made their mark in various fields. Niels Thoresen (1818-1888) was a Norwegian politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of Norway from 1866 to 1868. Johan Thoresen (1828-1912) was a Norwegian businessman and shipbuilder who founded the Thoresen Shipping Company in 1857, which became one of the largest shipping companies in Norway.

Another notable figure was Olav Thoresen (1858-1935), a Norwegian novelist and playwright who wrote extensively about life in rural Norway. His works, such as "Bygde-Billeder" (Village Scenes) and "Fortællinger fra Bygderne" (Tales from the Villages), provided vivid depictions of Norwegian culture and traditions.

In the 20th century, one of the most prominent individuals with the Thoresen surname was Rolf Thoresen (1912-1985), a Norwegian physicist and engineer who made significant contributions to the development of nuclear energy. He played a key role in the construction of Norway's first nuclear reactor and was instrumental in establishing the Institute for Energy Technology in Norway.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Thoresen

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

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

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

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