Norwegian Origin Surnames

This is a list of surnames in which the origin is Norwegian. Norwegian is the North Germanic language spoken in Norway.
usage
origin
Abramsen Norwegian
Means "son of Abraham".
Adamsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Adam".
Akselsen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Aksel".
Amundsen Norwegian
Means "son of Amund". This name was borne by the Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928).
Andersen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Anders". A noteworthy bearer was the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875).
Anker Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
Metonymic surname for a sailor, meaning "anchor" in Dutch, Danish and Norwegian.
Antonsen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Anton".
Arnesen Norwegian
Means "son of Arne 1".
Årud Norwegian
From Norwegian å meaning "river, stream" and the archaic word rud meaning "cleared land".
Axelsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Axel".
Baardsen Norwegian
Means "son of Bård".
Bakke Norwegian
Means "slope, hillside" in Norwegian, from Old Norse bakki "bank".
Bakken Norwegian
Means "the slope, the hillside" in Norwegian, from Old Norse bakki "bank".
Beck 1 English, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian
From Middle English bekke (from Old Norse), Low German beke or Old Norse bekkr all meaning "stream".
Berg German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
From Old High German, Old Dutch and Old Norse berg meaning "mountain".
Berntsen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Bernt".
Brun French, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Means "brown" in French, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. It was originally a nickname for a person who had brown hair or skin.
Carlsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Carl".
Dahl Norwegian, Swedish, Danish
From Old Norse dalr meaning "valley". A famous of this surname was author Roald Dahl (1916-1990) who is mostly remembered for children's stories such as Matilda and Henry Sugar.
Edvardsen Norwegian
Means "son of Edvard".
Eide Norwegian
Derived from Old Norse eið meaning "isthmus".
Eliassen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Elias".
Eriksen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Erik".
Espensen Norwegian
Means "son of Espen".
Evensen Norwegian
Means "son of Even".
Falk Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, German
From Old Norse falki or Old High German falco meaning "falcon".
Frank 3 German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
Name for a person from Franconia in Germany, so called because it was settled by the Frankish people. A notable bearer was the German-Jewish diarist Anne Frank (1929-1945), a victim of the Holocaust.
Friis Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Scandinavian (mostly Danish) form of Fries.
Gulbrandsen Norwegian
Means "son of Gulbrand" in Norwegian.
Guldbrandsen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Gulbrand" in Norwegian and Danish.
Gundersen Norwegian
Means "son of Gunder".
Haakonsson Norwegian
Means "son of Håkon".
Hagen Norwegian, Dutch
From Old Norse hagi or Old Dutch hago meaning "enclosure, pasture".
Hall English, German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Means simply "hall", given to one who either lived in or worked in a hall (the house of a medieval noble).
Halvorsen Norwegian
Means "son of Halvor".
Hansen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Hans". This is the most common surname in Norway, and the third most common in Denmark.
Hanssen Norwegian
Means "son of Hans".
Haraldsen Norwegian
Means "son of Harald".
Haugen Norwegian
Means "hill" in Norwegian, referring to a person who lived on a hilltop.
Holm Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
From Swedish, Danish and Norwegian holme, holm meaning "islet" (Old Norse holmr).
Holt English, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
From Old English, Old Dutch and Old Norse holt meaning "forest".
Horn English, German, Norwegian, Danish
From the Old English, Old High German and Old Norse word horn meaning "horn". This was an occupational name for one who carved objects out of horn or who played a horn, or a person who lived near a horn-shaped geographical feature, such as a mountain or a bend in a river.
Isaksen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Isak".
Iversen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Iver".
Jakobsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Jakob".
Jansen Dutch, Norwegian
Means "son of Jan 1". This is the second most common Dutch surname.
Jensen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Jens". This is the most common surname in Denmark.
Jenssen Norwegian
Means "son of Jens".
Johansen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Johan". This is the second most common Norwegian surname.
Johnsen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of John".
Karlsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Karl".
Knutsen Norwegian
Means "son of Knut".
Landvik Norwegian
From the name of a Norwegian town meaning "land inlet".
Lang German, Danish, Norwegian
German, Danish and Norwegian cognate of Long.
Lange German, Danish, Norwegian
German, Danish and Norwegian cognate of Long.
Larsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Lars".
Lie Norwegian
From Norwegian li, Old Norse hlíð meaning "hillside, slope".
Lien Norwegian
Variant of Lie.
Lind Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Derived from Old Norse lind meaning "linden tree".
Losnedahl Norwegian
From Norwegian dahl meaning "valley" and Losna, a place in Norway.
Lund Danish, Swedish, Norwegian
Indicated a person who lived near a grove of trees, from Old Norse lundr meaning "grove". There are towns in Sweden named Lund.
Lunde Norwegian
Variant of Lund.
Mathisen Norwegian
Means "son of Mathias".
Moe Norwegian
Means "sandy ground" in Norwegian.
Moen Norwegian
Means "the sandy ground" in Norwegian.
Næss Norwegian
Variant of Ness.
Naess Norwegian
Variant of Ness.
Nass Norwegian
Variant of Ness.
Ness English, Scottish, Norwegian
From English ness and Norwegian nes meaning "headland, promontory", of Old Norse origin, originally referring to a person who lived there.
Nilsen Norwegian
Means "son of Nils".
Nordberg Swedish, Norwegian
From Swedish and Norwegian nord (Old Norse norðr) meaning "north" and berg meaning "mountain". As a Swedish name it is ornamental.
Nygård Norwegian
From Norwegian ny (Old Norse nýr) meaning "new" and gård (Old Norse garðr) meaning "farm, estate".
Oliversen Norwegian
Means "son of Oliver".
Olsen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Ole".
Omdahl Norwegian
Denoted a person hailing from any one of a number of farms in Norway called either Åmdal or Omdal meaning "elm valley".
Østberg Norwegian
Norwegian form of Östberg.
Ottosen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Otto".
Ovesen Norwegian
Means "son of Ove".
Paulsen Norwegian, Danish
Means "son of Paul".
Pedersen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Peder".
Petersen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Peter".
Pettersen Norwegian
Means "son of Petter".
Rolvsson Norwegian
Means "son of Rolf".
Ruud Norwegian
Derived from Old Norse ruð meaning "cleared land".
Sandberg Swedish, Norwegian, Jewish
From Swedish and Norwegian sand (Old Norse sandr) meaning "sand" and berg meaning "mountain" (or in the case of the Jewish surname, from the Yiddish or German cognates).
Silje Norwegian
Derived from the given name Silje.
Skjeggestad Norwegian
From a place name, derived from Norwegian skjegg "beard" and stad "town, place".
Solberg Norwegian, Swedish
From a place name, derived from Old Norse sól meaning "sun" and berg meaning "mountain". As a Swedish name it may be ornamental.
Solheim Norwegian
From the name various of various villages in Norway, derived from Old Norse sól meaning "sun" and heimr meaning "home".
Spillum Norwegian
Originally denoted a person from Spillum, Norway.
Stenberg Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
Derived from Scandinavian sten (Old Norse steinn) meaning "stone" and berg meaning "mountain". As a Swedish name it is ornamental.
Storstrand Norwegian
Originally denoted someone from Storstrand farm in Norway, derived from stor meaning "big" and strand meaning "beach".
Strand Norwegian, Swedish, Danish
From Old Norse strǫnd meaning "beach, sea shore". It was originally given to someone who lived on or near the sea.
Strøm Norwegian, Danish
Means "stream" in Norwegian and Danish.
Svendsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Svend".
Svensen Norwegian
Means "son of Sven".
Tennfjord Norwegian
Originally denoted a person from Tennfjord, Norway.
Thorsen Danish, Norwegian
Means "son of Thor".
Tveit Norwegian
Habitational name derived from Old Norse þveit meaning "clearing".
Vik Norwegian
Means "cove, inlet" in Norwegian.
Vinter Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Scandinavian variant of Winter.
Voll 1 Norwegian
Originally indicated a person who lived in a meadow, from Old Norse vǫllr "meadow, field".
Wang 3 German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
From Old High German wang or Old Norse vangr meaning "grassy slope, meadow".