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

Ulness, 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 Ulness surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ulness in America

Ulness is the 102197th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ulness surname appeared 176 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 Ulness.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ulness 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 Ulness

The surname Ulness is believed to have originated in Norway in the 16th century. It likely derives from the Old Norse words "ulna" meaning elbow or forearm and "nes" meaning headland or promontory, suggesting it was initially a descriptive name for someone with a distinctive physical feature or someone living near a particular landform.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Ulness name appears in the parish records of Vestre Slidre, Norway, where a Gunnar Ulness is mentioned in 1623. Other early spellings found in Norwegian records include Ulnes, Ullenes, and Ullnæs.

In the 17th century, the Ulness surname began appearing in Denmark, potentially indicating migration or trade connections between the two Scandinavian countries. The Danish records from this period often spell the name as Ulnæs or Ulnæss.

A notable early bearer of the Ulness name was Hans Ulness, a Norwegian farmer and landowner born in 1712 in Vestre Slidre. He was known for his successful agricultural enterprises and served as a local official in his community.

As the name spread in the 19th century, it took on various spellings in different regions, such as Ulnæs in Sweden and Ulnas in Finland. Interestingly, the Finnish variant Ulnas may have derived from the Swedish pronunciation of the name.

The Ullness spelling emerged in parts of Scotland and Northern England, potentially adopted by Scandinavian immigrants or through phonetic adaptations of the name by English speakers. One famous bearer of this spelling was Robert Ullness (1832-1912), a Scottish industrialist who made significant contributions to the textile industry in Glasgow.

By the late 19th century, many bearers of the Ulness name had migrated to North America, seeking new opportunities. Among the early immigrants was Nils Ulness (1861-1943), a Norwegian-American farmer and community leader who settled in Minnesota and played a role in establishing several Lutheran churches in the region.

Other notable individuals with the Ulness surname include Olav Ulness (1875-1951), a Norwegian-American educator and author who wrote extensively on Norwegian language and culture, and Ingrid Ulness (1898-1982), a celebrated Norwegian-American artist known for her landscape paintings depicting scenes from rural Minnesota.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ulness

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

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

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

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