2000
#193
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 133,474
First available Census row
Per 100,000 49.48
Common Last name
Hansen
A patronymic surname of Scandinavian origin meaning "son of Hans," derived from the personal name Hans or Johannes.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 154,865 Americans carry the last name Hansen. That puts it at #210 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 45.18 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,213 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Hansen surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Hansen with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
155K
1 in 2,213
Census rank
#210
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
45.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
135K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 135,050 bearers of the surname Hansen in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 45.18 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 210th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Hansen, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Hansen
The surname Hansen is of Scandinavian origin, specifically from Denmark and Norway. It is a patronymic surname, meaning it originated from the name of the father or an ancestor. The name is derived from the old Norse personal name Hans, a shortened form of Johannes, which was the Scandinavian version of the name John.
In the Middle Ages, the use of surnames was not widespread, and people were often identified by their given name followed by their father's name with the suffix "-son" added. Hansen, meaning "son of Hans," was one such surname that emerged during this time.
The earliest recorded instances of the surname Hansen can be traced back to the 13th and 14th centuries in Danish and Norwegian records. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Niels Hansen, a Danish nobleman who lived in the late 13th century.
As the use of surnames became more common, the name Hansen spread across Scandinavia and eventually to other parts of Europe and the Americas as people migrated. In some cases, the spelling of the name may have been modified slightly, such as Hanson or Hannsen, but the root remained the same.
Notable individuals with the surname Hansen throughout history include:
1. Peter Andreas Hansen (1795-1874), a Danish astronomer and mathematician known for his work on the orbit of the Moon and the theory of comets.
2. Gerhard Armauer Hansen (1841-1912), a Norwegian physician who discovered the bacterium responsible for leprosy, now known as Mycobacterium leprae.
3. Alvin Hansen (1887-1975), an American economist and professor at Harvard University, known for his contributions to the theory of the business cycle and Keynesian economics.
4. Lars Hansen (born 1952), an American economist and a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2013 for his work on asset pricing and time series analysis.
5. Edvard Hansen (1888-1957), a Norwegian painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and depictions of rural life in Norway.
The surname Hansen has a rich history and has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including scientists, artists, and scholars, throughout the centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hansen
Among Census respondents with the surname Hansen, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Hansen bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Hansen surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.3% · 123,317
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 4,887
- Two or more races3.1% · 4,186
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1,217
- Black or African American0.6% · 791
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 652
Timeline
Historical Census data for Hansen
Hansen appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#204
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 137,977
+4,503 bearers (+3.4%)
Per 100,000 46.78
Rank movement Down 11 places
2020
#210
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 135,050
-2,927 bearers (-2.1%)
Per 100,000 45.18
Rank movement Down 6 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #193 | 133,474 | 49.48 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #204 | 137,977 | 46.78 | +4,503 bearers (+3.4%) | Down 11 places |
| 2020 | #210 | 135,050 | 45.18 | -2,927 bearers (-2.1%) | Down 6 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Hansen surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #204 | #210 | -2.9% |
| Count | 137,977 | 135,050 | -2.1% |
| Per 100K | 46.78 | 45.18 | -3.4% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Hansen bearers went from 137,977 to 135,050 (-2.1% change). The surname moved down 6 positions in the national ranking, going from #204 to #210.
FAQ
Hansen surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Hansen?
Name Census estimates that about 154,865 living Americans carry the surname Hansen. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,213 residents.
How common is Hansen?
Hansen ranks #210 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 45.18 per 100,000 residents, which is about 45 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 135,050 people with the surname Hansen. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (154,865), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 45.18 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 45.18 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 45 of them to have the surname Hansen.
Has Hansen become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Hansen went from 137,977 recorded bearers to 135,050. That is a decrease of 2,927 (-2.1%). In the national ranking it fell from #204 to #210.
What does the Census say about the background of Hansen?
Among Census respondents with the surname Hansen, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.6%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Hansen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.3% (123,317 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Hansen appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.3%), Hispanic (3.6%), Two or More Races (3.1%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Hansen (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Hansen mean?
A patronymic surname of Scandinavian origin meaning "son of Hans," derived from the personal name Hans or Johannes. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Hansen (45.18 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Hansen?
If you just want to know how many people have the last name Hansen, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.