Find out how popular the last name Thorsten is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Thorsten.
A Scandinavian surname derived from the Old Norse name Þorsteinn, meaning "Thor's stone" or "stone of Thor."
Thorsten, 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 Thorsten surname is from the 2010 census data.
Thorsten is the 100302nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Thorsten surname appeared 180 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 Thorsten.
We can also compare 2010 data for Thorsten 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.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 100302 | 111119 | -10.23% |
| Count | 180 | 147 | 20.18% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.06 | 0.05 | 18.18% |
The surname Thorsten originates from Germany and Scandinavia, with its roots dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old Norse name Þórsteinn, which combines the elements "Þórr" (the Norse god of thunder) and "steinn" (stone). The name's meaning can be interpreted as "Thor's stone" or "the rock dedicated to Thor."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thorsten can be found in the Icelandic Landnámabók (Book of Settlements), which dates back to the late 12th century. This manuscript documents the settlement of Iceland by Norse settlers and mentions various individuals bearing the name Thorsten or its variants.
During the Viking Age, the name Thorsten was relatively common among Scandinavian populations, particularly in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It was also adopted by Germanic tribes in regions now part of modern-day Germany, where it took on slightly different spellings, such as Thorsten or Torsten.
In the Middle Ages, the name Thorsten appeared in various historical records and documents across Northern Europe. One notable example is Thorsten Vebner, a Danish nobleman and military commander who lived in the 14th century and played a significant role in the conflicts between Denmark and Sweden.
Another historical figure bearing the name Thorsten was Thorsten Fries, a German mathematician and astronomer born in 1488. He made contributions to the field of trigonometry and authored several works on astronomy and mathematics.
In the 16th century, Thorsten Vehlen, a German theologian and reformer, became a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation. He was born in 1498 and played a crucial role in spreading the teachings of Martin Luther in northern Germany.
The name Thorsten also has connections to various place names across Germany and Scandinavia. For example, the German town of Torsten, located in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, is believed to have derived its name from an individual named Thorsten who lived in the area during the Middle Ages.
Other notable individuals with the surname Thorsten include Thorsten Nehrlich, a German footballer who played for several Bundesliga clubs in the 1990s and early 2000s, and Thorsten Legat, a German Olympic swimmer who won a silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Thorsten.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Thorsten was:
| Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic White Only | 93.89% | 169 |
| Non-Hispanic Black Only | 0.00% | 0 |
| Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | (S)% | (S) |
| Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.00% | 0 |
| Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | (S)% | (S) |
| Hispanic Origin | (S)% | (S) |
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 Thorsten has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
| 2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 93.89% | 93.88% | 0.01% |
| Black | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | (S)% | 4.76% | (S)% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.00% | (S)% | (S)% |
| Two or More Races | (S)% | (S)% | (S)% |
| Hispanic | (S)% | 0.00% | (S)% |
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 Thorsten was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
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