Most Common Last Names in Minnesota

Top 3 — Minnesota

#2 scandinavian

Anderson

Patronymic

60,035 people

1 in every 104 Minnesota residents

Anderson means 'son of Anders' or Andrew. It rose so high in Minnesota because Anders was a standard given name in both Norway and Sweden, and the anglicized spelling spread across farm country and the Twin Cities alike.

#1 scandinavian

Johnson

Patronymic

85,178 people

1 in every 73 Minnesota residents

Johnson means 'son of John,' but in Minnesota much of its strength comes from Scandinavian forms such as Jonsson and Johansson being simplified in American records. Norwegian and Swedish settlement made it the state's clear number-one surname.

#3 scandinavian

Nelson

Patronymic

39,578 people

1 in every 158 Minnesota residents

Nelson means 'son of Nels' or Nils, the Scandinavian equivalent of Nicholas. Minnesota's long Norwegian and Swedish migration made Nelson far more common here than in most states.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

A Scandinavian State With a Hmong Layer

Minnesota's surname list sits on Dakota and Ojibwe homeland, but immigration remade the modern statewide ranking. Minnesota Historical Society sources note that by 1900 more than 60 percent of the state's foreign-born population came from Germany, Norway, and Sweden; more than 250,000 Norwegians lived in the state by 1905, and nearly 300,000 Swedes immigrated to Minnesota between 1850 and 1930. The list changed again when the first Hmong family arrived in Minnesota in November 1975, the largest resettlement wave followed the Refugee Act of 1980, and the 2010 census counted more than 66,000 Hmong Minnesotans, most in or near the Twin Cities.

Did you know? Vang ranks 29th statewide in Minnesota, an extraordinary position for a Hmong clan name in the United States, because the Twin Cities grew into the country's largest urban Hmong community after the first arrivals in 1975.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Minnesota

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Johnson scandinavian

85,178

1 in 73

Anderson scandinavian

60,035

1 in 104

Nelson scandinavian

39,578

1 in 158

Nelson means 'son of Nels' or Nils, the Scandinavian equivalent of Nicholas. Minnesota's long Norwegian and Swedish migration made Nelson far more common here than in most states.

Olson scandinavian

37,811

1 in 165

Olson means 'son of Ole' or Olof. Few surnames signal Minnesota's Nordic settlement more clearly, especially in the southern prairie and western counties where Norwegian and Swedish farm communities took root in the late nineteenth century.

Peterson scandinavian

36,574

1 in 171

Peterson means 'son of Peter,' often anglicized from Petersen or Petersson. It stayed unusually common in Minnesota because both Norwegian and Swedish immigrants brought close variants of the name in large numbers.

Larson scandinavian

27,134

1 in 230

Larson means 'son of Lars.' Minnesota's rank reflects the same Scandinavian pattern that lifted Olson and Peterson, especially in rural Lutheran communities founded during the big settlement decades after the Civil War.

Miller english

25,853

1 in 242

Miller is an occupational surname for a grain miller. In Minnesota it reflects both the common English form and German immigrants whose original surname was Muller or Mueller.

Carlson scandinavian

22,477

1 in 278

Carlson means 'son of Carl.' The name is especially characteristic of Swedish and Norwegian Minnesota, where Carl and Karl were common given names and the anglicized -son spelling became standard.

Hanson scandinavian

21,469

1 in 291

Hanson means 'son of Hans,' a Nordic and German form of John. It fits Minnesota's settlement map well because Hans was widely used in both Scandinavian and German immigrant families.

#10

Erickson scandinavian

18,927

1 in 330

Erickson means 'son of Erik.' It remained highly visible in Minnesota because Erik and Eriksson were common among Swedish immigrants, many of whom arrived during the state's railroad and farm expansion years.

#11

Brown english

16,855

1 in 371

Brown began as a nickname for someone with brown hair, complexion, or clothing. In Minnesota it represents the broad English-language surname layer that never disappeared even as Scandinavian names surged above national norms.

#12

Thompson english

16,547

1 in 378

Thompson means 'son of Thomas.' It is common across the Upper Midwest, but in Minnesota it sits below a cluster of Scandinavian patronymics that pushed many other English names downward.

#13

Williams welsh

14,558

1 in 429

Williams means 'son of William.' It remained a statewide staple through migration from other parts of the United States, especially into Minneapolis and Saint Paul, even though Minnesota's most distinctive surnames tend to be Nordic.

#14

Jones welsh

13,057

1 in 479

Jones, the classic Welsh form meaning 'son of John,' is common almost everywhere in the United States. In Minnesota it is notable less for local ancestry than for how many Scandinavian names outrank it.

#15

Meyer german

12,977

1 in 482

Meyer comes from a German title for a steward or tenant manager. Its Minnesota prominence points to the strong German settlement of southern and central counties, including the Catholic German belt around Stearns County.

#16

Lee english

12,608

1 in 496

Lee originally referred to a clearing or meadow in Old English, but modern Minnesota's Lee families come from several unrelated traditions. The surname's rank reflects both older Anglo-American usage and later Asian American communities for whom Lee is a standard romanization.

#17

Schmidt german

12,376

1 in 505

Schmidt is the German equivalent of Smith, meaning a blacksmith. It stands out in Minnesota because German settlement remained strong enough that many families kept the original spelling rather than anglicizing it.

#18

Swanson scandinavian

11,778

1 in 531

Swanson means 'son of Sven.' It is especially associated with Swedish immigration, which helps explain why it ranks much higher in Minnesota than in most states.

#19

Davis welsh

11,166

1 in 560

Davis means 'son of David.' Like Williams and Jones, it reflects Minnesota's broader American migration streams rather than the state's most distinctive ethnic settlement pattern.

#20

Hansen scandinavian

11,100

1 in 563

Hansen means 'son of Hans' and preserves the -sen spelling more common in Denmark and Norway. Its place in Minnesota's top 20 shows how thoroughly Scandinavian naming traditions entered the state's everyday population.

Local Insight

Uniquely Minnesota

These family names rank far higher in Minnesota than nationally — a direct fingerprint of the state's specific immigration waves.

Vang hmong

Ranked #29 in Minnesota versus #1742 nationally. That is 1713 spots higher here.

The first Hmong family arrived in November 1975, the largest resettlement wave came after 1980, and by 2010 Minnesota had the largest urban Hmong population in the United States, concentrated in and around Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Xiong hmong

Ranked #76 in Minnesota versus #2243 nationally. That is 2167 spots higher here.

Xiong is another Hmong clan name that appears far more often in Minnesota than national averages would predict. Its concentration reflects the same refugee-settlement history that made the Twin Cities a national center of Hmong community life.

Knutson norwegian

Ranked #54 in Minnesota versus #1890 nationally. That is 1836 spots higher here.

Knutson means 'son of Knut' and overperforms in Minnesota because Norwegian immigration was so large. Minnesota Historical Society sources note that more than 250,000 Norwegians lived in the state by 1905, leaving names like Knutson unusually dense in western and southern farm counties.

Gunderson norwegian

Ranked #106 in Minnesota versus #2489 nationally. That is 2383 spots higher here.

Gunderson, from the given name Gunder, is a classic Norwegian patronymic that Minnesota preserved better than most states. It is tied to the late nineteenth-century Norwegian settlement belt stretching across prairie farming communities.

Haugen norwegian

Ranked #109 in Minnesota versus #3535 nationally. That is 3426 spots higher here.

Haugen comes from a Norwegian farm name meaning hill or mound, and it appears far more often in Minnesota than in most states. The surname reflects chain migration, where families from the same Norwegian districts followed one another into established Minnesota settlements.

Etymology

Minnesota Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Scandinavian Patronymics

Minnesota's top 20 contains 11 Scandinavian patronymics. Johnson, Anderson, Nelson, Olson, Peterson, Larson, Carlson, Hanson, Erickson, Swanson, and Hansen all come from the Nordic patronymic habit of naming children after a father's given name, and they remain unusually common because Norwegian and Swedish immigration was so heavy from the 1850s into the early twentieth century.

Johnson (son of John/Johan) Anderson (son of Anders) Olson (son of Ole/Olof) Swanson (son of Sven)

German and English Work Names

Minnesota's top 20 is not only Nordic. Miller, Meyer, and Schmidt reflect German settlement in the state's south and center, while Brown and Lee show the durable older English-language layer that sits beneath nearly every Midwestern surname list.

Miller (grain miller) Meyer (steward or estate manager) Schmidt (blacksmith) Brown (brown-haired or brown-clothed)

Hmong Clan Names

Below the Scandinavian top tier, Minnesota has one of the country's most distinctive Hmong surname clusters. The first Hmong family arrived in 1975, the largest wave followed the Refugee Act of 1980, and that history helped push Vang, Xiong, and Yang far higher here than in most states.

Vang (Hmong clan name) Xiong (Hmong clan name) Yang (Hmong clan name)

Quick Answers

What are the most common last names in Minnesota?

The most common last names in Minnesota are Johnson, Anderson, Nelson, Olson, and Peterson. Unlike many states where Smith leads easily, Minnesota's top tier is dominated by Scandinavian patronymics.

Why is Johnson the most common last name in Minnesota?

Johnson ranks first in Minnesota because the state received exceptionally large numbers of Norwegian and Swedish immigrants in the second half of the nineteenth century. Many families with surnames like Jonsson and Johansson simplified them to Johnson in American records, pushing the name to the top statewide.

Why are Scandinavian last names so common in Minnesota?

They are so common because Minnesota was one of the main destinations for Norwegian and Swedish immigrants looking for farmland and work after the 1850s. By 1900, more than 60 percent of Minnesota's foreign-born population came from Germany, Norway, and Sweden, and the surname list still shows that settlement pattern clearly.

Why are Vang and Xiong so common in Minnesota?

Vang and Xiong are common in Minnesota because the state became a major Hmong resettlement center after the Vietnam War era. The first Hmong family arrived in Minnesota in November 1975, later refugee waves expanded the community, and by 2010 more than 66,000 Hmong people lived in the state.

Sources

Forebears - Most Common Surnames in Minnesota — Primary source for statewide surname rankings, counts, frequencies, and national rank comparisons
U.S. Census Bureau - QuickFacts: Minnesota — Population reference, including the 2010 Census total used for statewide context
Minnesota Historical Society - Immigrants and Refugees in Minnesota: Connecting Past and Present — Minnesota immigration overview, including the state's nineteenth-century Scandinavian and German population mix
MNopedia - Norwegian Immigration to Minnesota — Background on the scale and geography of Norwegian settlement in Minnesota
MNopedia - Swedish Immigration to Minnesota — Background on the scale of Swedish immigration to Minnesota between 1850 and 1930
Minnesota Historical Society - Hmong Timeline — Timeline for Hmong resettlement in Minnesota, including the first 1975 arrivals and 2010 population context
Minnesota Historical Society - Native Americans — Historical context on Dakota and Ojibwe ties to Minnesota before later immigration waves

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Johnson
People named #1: 85,178
1 in every: 73 residents
Top origin: Scandinavian
State population: 5,303,925
Census year: 2026

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Most Common Last Names in Minnesota

A Scandinavian State With a Hmong Layer

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in Minnesota

Uniquely Minnesota