Most Common Last Names in North Dakota

Top 3 — North Dakota

#2 scandinavian

Anderson

Patronymic

6,334 people

1 in every 118 North Dakota residents

Anderson means 'son of Anders' or Andrew. Its high North Dakota rank reflects the same Norwegian and Swedish migration that made Scandinavian Lutheran churches a defining feature of the state's small towns and countryside.

#1 scandinavian

Johnson

Patronymic

9,553 people

1 in every 78 North Dakota residents

Johnson means 'son of John,' but in North Dakota much of its strength comes from Norwegian and Swedish forms such as Johnsen, Johansson, and Jonsson being anglicized in American records. The name rose with the Scandinavian farm settlement that flooded the Red River Valley and eastern prairie after 1880.

#3 scandinavian

Olson

Patronymic

5,418 people

1 in every 138 North Dakota residents

Olson means 'son of Ole' or Olof. Few names mark North Dakota's Norwegian settlement more clearly, and Forebears shows the state holds 2.52 percent of all American Olsons, a very large share for such a small population.

Name origins â€” top 20 surnames

Name origins - top 20 surnames

Name origins — top 20 surnames

Heritage

Norwegian Farm Belts, German-Russian Counties, and the Red River Métis

North Dakota's surname map was formed during the Great Dakota Boom, when more than 100,000 immigrants entered northern Dakota and the state became one of the most heavily immigrant places in the country. North Dakota Studies notes that in 1910 the largest foreign-born group was Norwegian, with 45,937 people, and that from 1892 to 1905 almost half of all immigrants into the state were Scandinavians. Germans from Russia built dense farm settlements across the state's central and southern counties, while the older fur-trade country around Pembina preserved Métis surnames that grew out of French and Indigenous families.

Did you know? Poitra ranks 76th statewide in North Dakota, and Forebears attributes 63.71 percent of all U.S. Poitras to the state, an unusually strong sign of how long Métis and Turtle Mountain family networks have endured here.

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in North Dakota

Showing all 20 surnames

Tap a name to expand meaning

Johnson scandinavian

9,553

1 in 78

Anderson scandinavian

6,334

1 in 118

Olson scandinavian

5,418

1 in 138

Nelson scandinavian

4,187

1 in 178

Nelson means 'son of Nels' or Nils, the Scandinavian form of Nicholas. The surname stayed unusually common because North Dakota drew thousands of Norwegian farm families during the boom years before statehood and into the early twentieth century.

Miller german

3,624

1 in 206

Miller is an occupational surname for a grain miller. In North Dakota it reflects both the ordinary English form and German-speaking migration, especially in the wheat country where milling and rail shipment defined local economies.

Larson scandinavian

3,488

1 in 214

Larson means 'son of Lars.' Its place in the top 10 shows how thoroughly Scandinavian patronymics took root across North Dakota's farm belt, especially in counties settled from Minnesota and directly from Norway.

Peterson scandinavian

3,482

1 in 215

Peterson means 'son of Peter,' often simplified from Petersen. North Dakota's ranking reflects the same settlement pattern that pushed Johnson, Olson, and Larson upward, with Scandinavian families filling railroad towns and homesteads alike.

Smith english

3,220

1 in 232

Smith comes from Old English for a metalworker or blacksmith. It remains a top North Dakota surname because every frontier settlement needed blacksmiths and because broad national migration eventually carried Smith into every county, even if Scandinavian names outrank it here.

Hanson scandinavian

3,058

1 in 244

Hanson means 'son of Hans,' a common name in both Scandinavian and German families. In North Dakota it sits near the top because Scandinavian immigration was so large that even secondary patronymics remained statewide staples.

#10

Thompson english

2,533

1 in 295

Thompson means 'son of Thomas.' It reflects the broader English-speaking migration into North Dakota, but it ranks below several Nordic surnames because the state's immigrant core was not chiefly Anglo-American.

#11

Schmidt german

2,380

1 in 314

Schmidt is the German equivalent of Smith, meaning a blacksmith. Its prominence in North Dakota is a clear sign that many German families, including Germans from Russia, kept the original spelling instead of converting it to Smith.

#12

Erickson scandinavian

2,342

1 in 319

Erickson means 'son of Erik.' It remained unusually visible in North Dakota because Erik and Eriksson were common in Scandinavian immigrant communities that spread west from the Red River Valley onto the open prairie.

#13

Brown english

1,893

1 in 395

Brown began as a nickname for someone with brown hair, complexion, or clothing. In North Dakota it represents the broad national surname layer that sits beneath the state's more distinctive Scandinavian and German clusters.

#14

Berg scandinavian

1,707

1 in 438

Berg means 'mountain' or 'hill' in Scandinavian and German naming traditions. In North Dakota it is especially telling because many Norwegian immigrants preserved short farm-name surnames instead of shifting to more general English forms.

#15

Carlson scandinavian

1,700

1 in 440

Carlson means 'son of Carl.' Its top-20 rank shows how deeply Scandinavian naming remained embedded in North Dakota, where even a second tier of Nordic patronymics outruns larger national surnames such as Williams and Jones.

#16

Lee english

1,525

1 in 490

Lee originally referred to a clearing or meadow in Old English. In North Dakota it functions less as an ethnic marker than as a broad American surname carried in by railroad workers, town builders, and later urban migration.

#17

Davis welsh

1,403

1 in 533

Davis means 'son of David.' It is common nationwide, but in North Dakota it ranks below several Scandinavian names because the state's settlement history pulled so heavily from Norwegian and Swedish farming communities.

#18

Martin french

1,398

1 in 535

Martin comes from the Latin name Martinus. In North Dakota it appears across several traditions at once, including French-Canadian Red River lines, German Catholic communities, and the wider English-speaking migration.

#19

Jacobson scandinavian

1,301

1 in 574

Jacobson means 'son of Jacob.' Its unusually high place in North Dakota is another clue that Scandinavian naming patterns remained intact longer here than in many other states.

#20

Keller german

1,231

1 in 607

Keller is a German surname associated with a cellarer or keeper of provisions. Its top-20 status fits the strong German and German-Russian imprint on central and south-central North Dakota.

Local Insight

Uniquely North Dakota

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

Haugen norwegian

Ranked #25 in North Dakota versus #3535 nationally. That is 3510 spots higher here.

Haugen is a classic Norwegian farm-name surname meaning hill or mound. North Dakota's very high ranking reflects the same Norwegian settlement stream that made the state one of the strongest Scandinavian surname regions in the country.

Dockter german

Ranked #53 in North Dakota versus #13182 nationally. That is 13129 spots higher here.

Dockter appears far more often in North Dakota than nationally, with Forebears placing a quarter of all U.S. bearers in the state. That concentration fits the dense German-speaking farm communities of central and south-central North Dakota, where German-Russian settlement stayed locally dominant for generations.

Halvorson norwegian

Ranked #57 in North Dakota versus #5121 nationally. That is 5064 spots higher here.

Halvorson means 'son of Halvor,' a distinctly Norwegian given name. Its concentration in North Dakota reflects the same late nineteenth-century migration that made Norwegians the state's largest foreign-born group by 1910.

Poitra french

Ranked #76 in North Dakota versus #34050 nationally. That is 33974 spots higher here.

Poitra is strongly associated with North Dakota's Métis and Turtle Mountain communities. The State Historical Society identifies Pembina as a major fur-trade center where the Métis emerged from European trader and Native families, and Forebears shows nearly two-thirds of all U.S. Poitras live in North Dakota.

Kuntz german

Ranked #35 in North Dakota versus #2996 nationally. That is 2961 spots higher here.

Kuntz is a German surname that overperforms sharply in North Dakota, where Forebears places 5.91 percent of all U.S. bearers. Its concentration matches the state's German-Russian settlement belt, especially in the counties that filled with German-speaking farm families before World War I.

Etymology

North Dakota Last Name Meanings: Occupational, Patronymic & Habitational

Scandinavian Patronymics

North Dakota's top 20 is dominated by Scandinavian patronymics. Johnson, Anderson, Olson, Nelson, Larson, Peterson, Hanson, Erickson, Carlson, and Jacobson all descend from a father's given name, and they rank so high because Norwegians and other Scandinavians arrived in exceptional numbers between the 1880s and the early 1900s.

Johnson (son of John) Olson (son of Ole) Larson (son of Lars) Jacobson (son of Jacob)

German Work Names

German surnames stand out in North Dakota more than in many neighboring states. Miller, Schmidt, and Keller all sit in the top 20, and just below them are Schneider, Meyer, Wagner, Weber, and Becker, a pattern that reflects the long footprint of German and German-Russian farm settlement.

Miller (grain miller) Schmidt (blacksmith) Keller (keeper of provisions) Schneider (tailor)

Farm and Place Names

North Dakota preserved many short farm-name and landscape surnames, especially from Norway. Berg, Haugen, Dahl, Lund, Ness, and Strand all refer to natural features or farm places, and their visibility points to immigrant communities that kept older naming habits intact on the prairie.

Berg (mountain or hill) Haugen (hill or mound) Dahl (valley) Lund (grove)

Quick Answers

Why are Scandinavian last names so common in North Dakota?

They are so common because North Dakota attracted very large numbers of Norwegian and other Scandinavian immigrants during the Great Dakota Boom. North Dakota Studies notes that from 1892 to 1905 almost half of all immigrants into the state were Scandinavians, and that history still shows up clearly in names like Johnson, Olson, Nelson, Larson, Peterson, and Erickson.

Why is Smith not the most common last name in North Dakota?

Smith is not first in North Dakota because the state's heaviest settlement came from Scandinavian farm families rather than from older English-name populations. That pushed Johnson, Anderson, Olson, and Nelson above Smith, which would be the leading surname in many other states.

Why is Poitra so common in North Dakota?

Poitra is common in North Dakota because the state preserved strong Métis and Turtle Mountain family networks. The Red River and Pembina fur-trade world produced large Métis communities early, and the surname remained especially concentrated in northern North Dakota into the present.

Sources

Forebears - Most Common Surnames in North Dakota — Primary source for statewide surname rankings, counts, frequencies, and national comparison ranks
U.S. Census Bureau - QuickFacts: North Dakota — Official state population reference, including the April 1, 2010 total of 672,591
North Dakota Studies - Section 5: The Great Dakota Boom — Overview of the immigration surge that brought more than 100,000 newcomers into northern Dakota
North Dakota Studies - Section 7: Scandinavians — Background on Norwegian and broader Scandinavian immigration, including the 1892 to 1905 peak years
North Dakota Studies - Section 2: Population by Numbers — Ethnic population overview, including the 1910 figure showing Norwegians as North Dakota's largest foreign-born group
State Historical Society of North Dakota - Pembina State Museum — Historical context on Pembina, the fur trade, and the emergence of the Métis in northeastern North Dakota
North Dakota Studies - Are We Germans, or Russians, or Americans? — Background on the German-Russian triangle and the geography of German-speaking settlement in North Dakota

Information is cross-referenced with official state archives.

#1 Surname: Johnson
People named #1: 9,553
1 in every: 78 residents
Top origin: Scandinavian
State population: 672,591
Census year: 2014

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Most Common Last Names in North Dakota

Norwegian Farm Belts, German-Russian Counties, and the Red River Métis

Top 20 Most Common Last Names in North Dakota

Uniquely North Dakota