The most common Norwegian last names: An overview

Do you know any Norwegian last names – or maybe flaunt one yourself? Read on to discover the most common Norwegian last names, how family names were given in Norway throughout history, and what the surnames themselves mean.

Before we dive into Norwegian last names, let’s take a look at the languages spoken and written in Norway in which they’re transferred from generation to generation.

The languages and scripts behind Norwegian last names

At the time of writing, Norway has two officially recognized languages: Norwegian and North Sámi. These two languages, along with dozens of others (including South Sámi, Lule Sámi, Vlax Romani, English, and French), are spoken among Norway’s population of about 5.4 million and beyond.

Norwegian (Norsk), Norway’s national language, is used by around 5.2 million people in the country and around 100,000 outside it. North Sámi (Sámegiella) is an official provincial language used by around 20,000 people in Norway and 5,700 outside of it.

North Sámi is written in the Latin and Cyrillic scripts. Norwegian is written in the Latin script, but it has two written standards: Bokmål Norwegian and Nynorsk Norwegian. Bokmål is used by up to 90% of the Norwegian population and Nynorsk by 10%. 

Do any of these special characters from the Norwegian alphabet look familiar? Source: Florida International University.

Now that we’ve covered some of the main ways Norwegian last names are transferred from generation to generation, let’s examine the most common surnames in Norway.

Introducing the etymology of Norwegian last names

Here are some of the most important definitions used in the study of names, along with examples.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and the historical development of their meaning.

Descriptive names are based on a person’s physical appearance.

• For example, the last name “Armstrong” is descriptive.

Occupational names are derived from a person’s trade or line of work.

• For example, the last name “Smith” is occupational; derived from the metal crafting line of work.

Patronymic names are passed down from the father, grandfather, or another male ancestor.

• For example, the last name “Richardson” is patronymic; meaning, “Richard’s son” or “son of Richard”.
• In Norwegian, the patronymic last name suffix is “sen”, which means “son” (operating as “son of”).
• Female family names were rare Norwegian last names – and certainly much less common than male – but they function similarly, with the suffix “datter” meaning “daughter” (operating as “daughter of”).

Toponymic names are place names including geographic places such as mountains, rivers, towns, or others.

• For example, the last name “Ford” is toponymic.

Many last names are historically occupational. Source: Peter Freitag / Pixabay.

The most common Norwegian last names

Without further ado, we’re bringing you the list of the most common last names in Norway for 2019. See if you can guess which are descriptive, which are occupational, which are patronymic, and which are toponymic.

1. Hansen – 51 123
2. Johansen – 48 541
3. Olsen – 47 499
4. Larsen – 36 771
5. Andersen – 36 130
6. Pedersen – 34 190
7. Nilsen – 33 585
8. Kristiansen – 22 751
9. Jensen – 22 339
10. Karlsen – 20 551
11. Johnsen – 20 219
12. Pettersen – 19 501
13. Eriksen – 18 808
14. Berg – 17 789
15. Haugen – 14 163
16. Hagen – 13 803
17. Johannessen – 12 883
18. Andreassen – 11 795
19. Dahl – 11 412
20. Jørgensen – 11 204
21. Henriksen – 11 161
22. Lund – 11 118
23. Halvorsen – 11 083
24. Sørensen – 10 534
25. Jakobsen – 10 429
26. Moen – 10 166
27. Gundersen – 10 005
28. Iversen – 9 904
29. Strand – 9 819
30. Solberg – 9 686
31. Svendsen – 9 654
32. Eide – 8 400
33. Knutsen – 8 372
34. Martinsen – 8 360
35. Paulsen – 8 233
36. Bakken – 7 704
37. Kristoffersen – 7 671
38. Mathisen – 7 411
39. Lie – 7 382
40. Amundsen – 7 184
41. Nguyen – 7 174
42. Rasmussen – 7 113
43. Ali – 6 938
44. Lunde – 6 889
45. Solheim – 6 883
46. Berge – 6 862
47. Moe – 6 811
48. Nygård – 6 806
49. Bakke – 6 805
50. Kristensen – 6 751
51. Fredriksen – 6 688
52. Holm – 6 517
53. Lien – 6 402
54. Hauge – 6 305
55. Christensen – 6 235
56. Andresen – 6 234
57. Nielsen – 6 086
58. Knudsen – 6 059
59. Evensen – 5 909
60. Sæther – 5 817
61. Aas – 5 804
62. Myhre – 5 758
63. Hanssen – 5 727
64. Ahmed – 5 717
65. Haugland – 5 703
66. Thomassen – 5 611
67. Simonsen – 5 558
68. Danielsen – 5 454
69. Berntsen – 5 430
70. Sandvik – 5 256
71. Rønning – 5 224
72. Arnesen – 5 151
73. Antonsen – 5 074
74. Næss – 5 062
75. Vik – 5 033

A few additional family name facts…

The number of Norwegian surnames ending in ‘sen’ continued a preexisting decreasing trend in 2019, dropping to 14.2%, compared with 22.4% in 1995. In 2019, 8% of newborns received a hyphenated last name – slightly less than the year prior.

All data in this section is derived from Statistics Norway.

Can’t get enough Scandinavian last names – or names in general – and perhaps interested in those related to Vikings, too? Find our full lowdown on historic and modern Viking names here.

Source: Norway Today