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This website is exclusively about Genealogy and Family History in Denmark, and aims to help you find the information you need for your family history research. The site provide information on Danish history, emigration, names, and places as well as research guides and online tools. This website is exclusively about Genealogy and Family History in Denmark, and aims to help you find the information you need for your family history research. The site provide information on Danish history, emigration, names, and places as well as research guides and online tools.
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
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Surnames Top 100

A list of the 100 most common surnames in Denmark and their numerical distribution:

Rank

Surname

1 Jensen
5 Andersen
30 Schmidt
52 Dahl
76 Holst
98 Hedegaard

See the full list >> 

Danish Counties 1793-1970

Aabenraa
Aalborg
Aarhus
Bornholm
Frederiksborg
Haderslev
Holbæk
Hjørring
København
Maribo
Odense
Præstø
Randers
Ribe
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Thisted
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Vejle
Viborg
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Please notice that this site is undergoing maintanance and software updates from April 19th and the following 7 days weeks (a bit longer than first expected). You may therefore encounter that some pages and features may not perform as they should, e.g. login and registration. Thank you for your patience.
Genealogical Symbols and Common Abbreviations Genealogical Symbols and AbbreviationsWhen you work with Danish publications and official documents etc. you will usually encounter several abbreviations and a few symbols. Introduction to the Danish Censuses Introduction to the Danish CensusesDanish censuses were held at various intervals from 1769 onwards and has become one of the prime sources of genealogical information.
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The 100 most common surnames in Denmark Printerfriendly version E-mail this page to a friend
Written by Anders Buch-Jepsen   
Article Index
The 100 most common surnames in Denmark
Page 2: Surnames 51-100
Top 100 Surnames

This list covers the 100 most common surnames in present-day Denmark. It explains the origin and meaning of the name and provides information on ranking and numerical distribution.

Of the following 100 surnames, as many as 64 derive from the patronymic naming tradition (names ending with "-sen"), 23 from nicknames, 9 from topographic features, and 2 from an occupation. Due to the natural immigration over the years many foreign surnames have appeared in Denmark, however, only one surname of German origin (SCHULTZ) and one of Swedish origin (NILSSON) have made it to the top 100 list.

Among the 5.3 mill. Danes present day JENSEN is the most common lastname, carried by 312,396 individuals comprising 5.84 percent, followed by HANSEN, NIELSEN, PEDERSEN and ANDERSEN. The 15 most common names account for as many as 40 percent of the Danish population - all of them of patronymic origin - and all top 100 surnames account for as many as 57,22% of all Danes.

Over the years the top surnames have remained consistent and there has only been little change in the distribution of the more common surnames in the Danish population.

 Rank Surname Origin / Meaning Occurrence
1. Jensen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Jens. 312,396
2. Nielsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Niels. 304,509
3. Hansen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Hans. 255,892
4. Pedersen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Peder. 191,144
5. Andersen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Anders. 175,607
6. Christensen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Christen. 135,979
7. Larsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Lars. 132,441
8. Sørensen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Søren. 127,078
9. Rasmussen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Rasmus. 106,249
10. Jørgensen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Jørgen. 100,376
11. Petersen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Peter. 95,232
12. Madsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Mads. 71,448
13. Kristensen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Kristen. 65,680
14. Olsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given names Ol/Ols/Ole. 55,461
15. Christiansen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Christian. 41,005
16. Thomsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Thom/Tom. 40,796
17. Poulsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Poul. 34,731
18. Johansen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Johan. 33,500
19. Knudsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Knud. 32,567
20. Mortensen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Morten. 31,846
21. Møller Danish: occupational name for a miller - the man who operated the mill (from Dan. "mølle" = mill). 31,024
22. Jakobsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Jakob. 28,820
23. Jacobsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Jacob. 26,852
24. Olesen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Ole. 24,043
25. Mikkelsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Mikkel. 23,250
26. Frederiksen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Frederik. 21,791
27. Laursen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Laur/Laurs. 19,044
28. Henriksen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Henrik. 18,776
29. Lund Danish: topografic name for someone living in or near a grove. 16,747
30. Schmidt Danish (German): occupational name for a worker in metal. Most often a Germanized form of Smed (meaning Smith) but can also be of German origin (from Ger. Schmied). 15,923
31. Eriksen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Erik. 15,693
32. Holm Danish: topografic name for someone living on a islet/small island. 15,029
33. Kristiansen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Kristian. 14,489
34. Clausen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Claus. 13,653
35. Simonsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Simon. 13,110
36. Svendsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Svend. 12,529
37. Andreasen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Andreas. 12,305
38. Iversen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Iver. 11,209
39. Jeppesen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Jeppe. 10,376
40. Mogensen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Mogens. 9,651
41. Lauridsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Laurids. 9,511
42. Østergaard Danish: nickname for a person living on the farmstead named "Østergaard" (literal meaning "the eastern farmstead"). 9,423
43. Nissen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Nis. 9,398
44. Jespersen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Jesper. 9,318
45. Jepsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Jep. 8,876
46. Frandsen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Frands. 8,781
47. Vestergaard Danish: nickname for a person living on the farmstead named "Vestergaard" (literal meaning "the western farmstead"). 8,181
48. Kjær Danish: topografic name for someone living near a pond. 8,154
49. Nørgaard Danish: nickname for a person living on the farmstead named "Nørgaard" (literal meaning "the northern farmstead"). 7,702
50. Jessen Danish: patronymic name deriving from the given name Jes.

7,657



Last Updated ( Friday, 10 March 2006 )
 
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