2000
#11,810
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,429
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.90
Rare Last name
Johansson
Son of Johan, a Scandinavian form of the name John, meaning "God is gracious" or "Yahweh is gracious."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 3,207 Americans carry the last name Johansson. That puts it at #10,884 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.94 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 106,877 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Johansson 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 Johansson with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
3.2K
1 in 106,877
Census rank
#10,884
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.9
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.8K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,797 bearers of the surname Johansson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.94 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 10884th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Johansson, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Johansson
The surname Johansson is of Swedish origin and dates back to the medieval period. It is a patronymic name, derived from the given name Johan, which is the Swedish form of John. The suffix "-sson" means "son of," indicating that the name originally referred to the son of a man named Johan.
The name Johan has its roots in the Hebrew name Yohanan, which means "God is gracious." It was introduced to Scandinavia through Christianity and became a popular name among the Swedish population.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Johansson can be found in the Swedish Census Book of 1540, where a man named Olof Johansson was listed as a resident of Skara, a town in the Swedish province of Västergötland.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Johansson became increasingly common in Sweden, particularly in the rural areas. Many individuals with this surname were farmers or tradesmen, reflecting the agricultural and artisanal nature of Swedish society at the time.
In the 18th century, a notable figure bearing the name Johansson was Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795), a Swedish writer and composer renowned for his satirical works and drinking songs.
Another prominent Johansson was the Swedish botanist and explorer Carl Pehr Thunberg (1743-1828), who traveled extensively in South Africa and Japan, making significant contributions to the field of natural history.
In the 19th century, the industrialization of Sweden led to an influx of Johanssons from rural areas to urban centers. One notable individual from this period was Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), the Swedish chemist and inventor of dynamite, whose mother's maiden name was Johansson.
The name Johansson also gained international recognition through the Swedish filmmaker Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982), whose birth name was Ingrid Johansson.
Throughout history, the surname Johansson has been associated with various occupations, from farmers and artisans to scientists and artists, reflecting the diversity of Swedish society and the widespread nature of this name.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Johansson
Among Census respondents with the surname Johansson, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Johansson 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 Johansson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.4% · 2,500
- Two or more races4.0% · 112
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 104
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 54
- Black or African American0.7% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Timeline
Historical Census data for Johansson
Johansson 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
#11,624
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,698
+269 bearers (+11.1%)
Per 100,000 0.91
Rank movement Up 186 places
2020
#10,884
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,797
+99 bearers (+3.7%)
Per 100,000 0.94
Rank movement Up 740 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,810 | 2,429 | 0.90 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,624 | 2,698 | 0.91 | +269 bearers (+11.1%) | Up 186 places |
| 2020 | #10,884 | 2,797 | 0.94 | +99 bearers (+3.7%) | Up 740 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 Johansson 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 | #11,624 | #10,884 | 6.4% |
| Count | 2,698 | 2,797 | 3.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.91 | 0.94 | 2.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Johansson bearers went from 2,698 to 2,797 (+3.7% change). The surname moved up 740 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,624 to #10,884.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Johansson
FAQ
Johansson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Johansson?
Name Census estimates that about 3,207 living Americans carry the surname Johansson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 106,877 residents.
How common is Johansson?
Johansson ranks #10,884 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.94 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,797 people with the surname Johansson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (3,207), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.94 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.94 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Johansson.
Has Johansson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Johansson went from 2,698 recorded bearers to 2,797. That is an increase of 99 (+3.7%). In the national ranking it rose from #11,624 to #10,884.
What does the Census say about the background of Johansson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Johansson, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Johansson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (2,500 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Johansson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.4%), Two or More Races (4.0%), Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Johansson (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 Johansson mean?
Son of Johan, a Scandinavian form of the name John, meaning "God is gracious" or "Yahweh is gracious." 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 Johansson (0.94 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 Johansson?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans have the surname Johansson at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.