Behind the Name: Norwegian Surnames

ABRAHAMSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of ABRAHAM".

ABRAMSENNorwegian
Means "son of ABRAHAM".

ADAMSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of ADAM".

AKSELSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of AKSEL".

ALBERTSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of ALBERT".

ALEXANDERSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of ALEXANDER".

AMUNDSENNorwegian
Means "son of AMUND".

ANDERSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of ANDERS".

ANDREASSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of ANDREAS".

ANKERDutch, Danish, Norwegian
Metonymic surname for a sailor, meaning "anchor" in Dutch, Danish and Norwegian.

ANTHONSENDanish, Norwegian
Variant of ANTONSEN.

ANTONSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of ANTON".

ARNESENNorwegian
Means "son of ARNE (1)".

ÅRUDNorwegian
From Norwegian å meaning "river, stream" and the archaic word rud meaning "clearing".

AXELSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of AXEL".

BAARDSENNorwegian
Means "son of BÅRD".

BECK (1)English, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian
Cognate of BACH, from Middle English bekke (from Old Norse), Low German beke or Old Norse bekkr all meaning "stream".

BERGGerman, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
From a Germanic word meaning "mountain".

CHRISTENSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of CHRISTEN (1)".

CHRISTIANSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of CHRISTIAN".

DAHLNorwegian, 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'.

DANIELSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of DANIEL".

ERIKSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of ERIK".

ESPENSENNorwegian
Means "son of ESPEN".

ESPENSONNorwegian (Anglicized)
Americanized form of ESPENSEN.

FALKSwedish, Danish, Norwegian, German
From Old Norse falkr or Middle High German valke "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.

FREDRIKSENNorwegian
Means "son of FREDRIK".

GULBRANDSENNorwegian
Means "son of GULBRAND" in Norwegian.

GUNDERSENNorwegian
Means "son of GUNDER".

GUNNARSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of GUNNAR".

GUNVALDSENNorwegian
Means "son of GUNVALD".

HAAKONSSONNorwegian
Means "son of HÅKON".

HAGENNorwegian, Dutch
From Old Norse hagi or Old Dutch hago meaning "enclosure, pasture".

HALLEnglish, 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).

HALVORSENNorwegian
Means "son of HALVOR".

HANSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of HANS".

HARALDSENNorwegian
Means "son of HARALD".

HAUGENNorwegian
Means "the hill" in Norwegian, referring to a person who lived on a hilltop.

HENRIKSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of HENRIK".

HERMANSENDanish, Norwegian
Danish and Norwegian form of HERMANSON.

HOLGERSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of HOLGER".

HOLTEnglish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian
From Old English, Old Dutch and Old Norse holt meaning "forest".

HORNEnglish, German, Norwegian, Danish
From the Germanic 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.

ISAKSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of ISAK".

JAKOBSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of JAKOB".

JANSENDutch, Norwegian
Means "son of JAN (1)".

JOHANNESSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of JOHANNES".

JOHANSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of JOHAN".

JOHNSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of JOHAN".

KNUTSENNorwegian
Means "son of KNUT".

KRISTIANSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of KRISTIAN".

KRISTOFFERSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of KRISTOFFER".

LANDVIKNorwegian
Means "land and bay" in Norwegian.

LANGGerman, Danish, Norwegian
German, Danish and Norwegian cognate of LONG.

LANGEGerman, Danish, Norwegian
German, Danish and Norwegian cognate of LONG.

LEONARDSENNorwegian
Norwegian form of LEONARDSON.

LOSNEDAHLNorwegian
From a place name: dahl means "valley" in Norwegian, and Losne is a place in Norway.

LUNDDanish, Swedish, Norwegian, English
Indicated a person who lived near a grove of trees, from Old Norse lundr meaning "grove". There are towns in Sweden and Britain called Lund.

NÆSSNorwegian
Variant of NAESS.

NAESSNorwegian
From the Norwegian word næs "a promontory".

NASSNorwegian
From the Norwegian word næs meaning "a promontory".

NESSScottish, English, Norwegian
Means "headland" in Middle English, originally referring to a person who lived there.

NILSENNorwegian
Means "son of NILS".

OLHOUSERNorwegian, English
Means "(dweller by or near the) old house".

OLIVERSENNorwegian
Norwegian form of OLIVERSON.

OMDAHLNorwegian
Denoted a person hailing from any one of a number of farms in Norway called either Åmdal or Omdal meaning "elm valley".

OSTBERGNorwegian
From Østberg, the Norwegian form of ÖSTBERG.

OTTOSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of OTTO".

OVESENNorwegian
Means "son of OVE".

PEDERSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of PEDER".

PETTERSENNorwegian
Means "son of PETTER".

PREBENSENNorwegian, Danish
Means "son of PREBEN".

RASMUSSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of RASMUS".

ROLVSSONNorwegian
Means "son of ROLF".

RUUDNorwegian
Derived from Old Norse ruð meaning "clearing".

SILJENorwegian
Derived from the given name SILJE.

SIMONSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of SIMON (1)".

SKJEGGESTADNorwegian
From a place name, derived from Norwegian skjegg "beard" and stad "town, place".

SOLBERGNorwegian, Swedish
From a place name, derived from Old Norse sól "sun" and berg "mountain". As a Swedish name it may be ornamental.

SØRENSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of SØREN".

SPILLUMNorwegian
Originally denoted a person from Spillum, Norway.

STENBERGSwedish, Norwegian, Danish
Derived from Scandinavian sten "stone" and berg "mountain". As a Swedish name it is ornamental.

STORSTRANDNorwegian
Originally denoted someone from Storstrand farm in Norway, derived from stor meaning "big" and strand meaning "beach".

STRANDNorwegian, Swedish, Danish
From Old Norse strǫnd meaning "beach, sea shore". It was originally given to someone who lived on or near the sea.

SVENDSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of SVEND".

TENNFJORDNorwegian
Originally denoted a person from Tennfjord, Norway.

THORSENDanish, Norwegian
Means "son of THOR".

VANG (1)Norwegian, Danish
Variant of WANG (3).

VINTERDanish, Norwegian, Swedish
Scandinavian variant of WINTER.

VOLL (1)Norwegian
Originally indicated a person who lived in a meadow, from Old Norse vǫllr "meadow, field".

VOLLANNorwegian
Variant of VOLL (1).

WANG (3)German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish
From Old High German wang or Old Norse vangr meaning "grassy slope, meadow".

WOLFFGerman, Danish, Norwegian, Jewish
Variant of WOLF.

	Usage
	Initial letter
	Source
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	Related name
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