Norwegian surnames are one of those topics that I genuinely love because the history behind them is so fascinating and most people have no idea about any of it.
For most of Norwegian history, there were no hereditary surnames at all. Norwegians used a patronymic system just like Iceland still does today, where your last name was simply your father’s first name with -son or -datter added. So Erik’s son Olav became Olav Erikson and Erik’s daughter Astrid became Astrid Eriksdatter. Every generation had different last names. It was not until Norway passed a law in 1923 making hereditary surnames mandatory that things changed permanently.
What happened when Norwegians had to suddenly choose a fixed surname? A lot of them chose the name of their farm. Farm names had been used as informal identifiers for centuries in Norway and they were the natural choice. Others kept the patronymic and just made it permanent. And some chose names from nature, from their region, or from the long Norse tradition that stretches back over a thousand years.
Here are 90 popular Norwegian surnames with their full meanings.
The Most Common Norwegian Surnames
These are the names you will encounter most often among Norwegians and people of Norwegian descent. Many of them are patronymics that were fixed in place in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the meanings behind them go back to some of the most beloved Norse first names in history.
- Hansen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Hans
- Meaning: Son of Hans, the Scandinavian form of John
The single most common surname in Norway. Hans comes from Johannes which comes from the Hebrew Yohanan meaning God is gracious.
- Johansen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Johan
- Meaning: Son of Johan, another form of John
The second most common Norwegian surname. Johan and Hans are both forms of the same name, making these two surnames essentially cousins.
- Olsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Olaf
- Meaning: Son of Olaf, meaning ancestor’s relic
Olaf was one of the most important names in Norwegian history. King Olaf II brought Christianity to Norway and was canonized as Saint Olaf.
- Larsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Lars
- Meaning: Son of Lars, the Scandinavian form of Lawrence
Lars was enormously popular in Norway for centuries and the surname it generated is one of the most widespread in the country.
- Andersen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Anders
- Meaning: Son of Anders, the Scandinavian form of Andrew
Anders was one of the most common first names in Norway for hundreds of years. Made internationally famous by the fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen.
- Pedersen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Peder
- Meaning: Son of Peder, the Norwegian form of Peter
Peder comes from the Greek Petros meaning rock or stone.
- Nilsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Nils
- Meaning: Son of Nils, the Scandinavian form of Nicholas
Nils was one of the most beloved names in the Norwegian tradition. The story of Nils Holgersson, the boy who flew across Sweden on a goose, made this name internationally known.
- Kristiansen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Kristian
- Meaning: Son of Kristian, meaning Christian
Reflects the deep Christian faith that shaped Norwegian society after the conversion of the eleventh century.
- Jensen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Jens
- Meaning: Son of Jens, another Scandinavian form of John
Jens is the Danish and Norwegian form of Johannes. One of the most common surnames across all of Scandinavia.
- Karlsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Karl
- Meaning: Son of Karl, meaning free man
Karl comes from the Old Norse word for a free man as opposed to a serf. A name of independence and dignity.
- Eriksen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Erik
- Meaning: Son of Erik, meaning ever ruler
Erik was one of the great Norse names. Erik the Red discovered Greenland and his son Leif Erikson reached America five hundred years before Columbus.
- Berg
- Origin: Norwegian, from berg
- Meaning: Mountain
One of the most common farm-based surnames in Norway. Farms on or near a mountain took this name and it spread across the country.
- Haugen
- Origin: Norwegian, from haug
- Meaning: Mound, hill, burial mound
A farm name from a property built on or near a natural mound or hill.
- Dahl
- Origin: Norwegian, from dal
- Meaning: Valley
Farms in valley locations took this name. Made internationally famous by the writer Roald Dahl whose family was Norwegian.
- Bakke
- Origin: Norwegian, from bakke
- Meaning: Hill, slope
A farm on a hillside. One of the most descriptive geographical surnames in Norway.
Norwegian Farm Surnames
When Norwegians needed to choose hereditary surnames in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many chose the name of the farm their family had worked for generations. These farm names are some of the most distinctively Norwegian surnames in existence.
- Holm
- Origin: Norwegian, from holm
- Meaning: Small island, river island
A farm on a small island or on land surrounded by water on multiple sides.
- Strand
- Origin: Norwegian, from strand
- Meaning: Shore, beach
A farm right on the water’s edge. Norway has over fifty thousand kilometers of coastline and many farms sat right on the shore.
- Lund
- Origin: Norwegian, from lund
- Meaning: Grove of trees
A farm near a small grove or wooded area. One of the most common farm-based surnames across all of Scandinavia.
- Moen
- Origin: Norwegian, from mo
- Meaning: Open sandy plain, heath
A farm on flat, open heathland. The sandy plains between forests in eastern Norway produced many farms with this name.
- Sæther
- Origin: Norwegian, from sæter
- Meaning: Mountain summer farm
The sæter was the high mountain pasture where cattle were taken in summer. A name of the seasonal Norwegian farming tradition.
- Brekke
- Origin: Norwegian, from brekke
- Meaning: Steep hillside, slope
A farm on a steep hill. Norway’s dramatic terrain produced many farms in exactly this position.
- Hagen
- Origin: Norwegian, from hage
- Meaning: Garden, enclosure
A farm with a notable enclosed garden or field. One of the most common Norwegian farm surnames.
- Lie
- Origin: Norwegian, from li
- Meaning: Hillside, slope
A farm on a gentle hillside. Different from Brekke in that the slope is more gradual.
- Vik
- Origin: Norwegian, from vik
- Meaning: Bay, inlet
A farm at the head of a small bay or coastal inlet. Viking actually comes from this word meaning people of the bay.
- Eide
- Origin: Norwegian, from eid
- Meaning: Narrow strip of land between two bodies of water
A farm on an isthmus. Norway’s geography of fjords and lakes created many such narrow land bridges.
- Aas
- Origin: Norwegian, from ås
- Meaning: Ridge, hill
A farm on a long natural ridge. The åser, long ridges of ancient rock, run through much of southern Norway.
- Dal
- Origin: Norwegian, from dal
- Meaning: Valley
A variant spelling of Dahl. Both mean the same thing and come from the same farm name tradition.
- Nygaard
- Origin: Norwegian, from ny and gård
- Meaning: New farm
A farm that was newly established. When farmers cleared new land they often named their property the new farm.
- Solberg
- Origin: Norwegian, from sol and berg
- Meaning: Sun mountain
A farm on a sunny mountain slope. One of the most beautiful compound farm names in Norway.
- Berge
- Origin: Norwegian, from berg
- Meaning: Mountain
A variant of Berg. The -e ending reflects a different regional tradition of forming farm names.
Norwegian Surnames From The Norse Tradition
These surnames come from first names that go back to the Viking Age and the pre-Christian Norse tradition. They carry the old world of Norse gods, warriors, and sagas in them.
- Thorvaldsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Thorvald
- Meaning: Son of Thorvald, meaning Thor’s ruler
Thor was the most popular Norse god among ordinary people. Thorvald was one of the great Viking Age names. Bertel Thorvaldsen was Denmark’s greatest sculptor.
- Sigurdsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Sigurd
- Meaning: Son of Sigurd, meaning victory guardian
Sigurd the dragon slayer is the greatest hero of Norse mythology. His story inspired both Wagner’s Ring Cycle and Tolkien’s work.
- Gunnarsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Gunnar
- Meaning: Son of Gunnar, meaning warrior
Gunnar Hámundarson was one of the greatest heroes of the Icelandic sagas. A name of courage and loyalty.
- Bjørnsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Bjørn
- Meaning: Son of Bjørn, the bear
The bear was one of the most sacred animals in Norse culture. Berserkers were warriors who fought with the ferocity of bears.
- Haakonsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Haakon
- Meaning: Son of Haakon, meaning high son or chosen son
Haakon was the name of several Norwegian kings. Haakon the Good brought Christianity to Norway in the tenth century.
- Leifsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Leif
- Meaning: Son of Leif, meaning heir or descendant
Leif Erikson sailed to America around the year 1000 CE. His name and his legacy are inseparable.
- Ragnarsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Ragnar
- Meaning: Son of Ragnar, meaning wise warrior
Ragnar Lothbrok is one of the most famous Viking figures in Norse legend. Whether he was real or mythological is still debated.
- Magnusen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Magnus
- Meaning: Son of Magnus, the great one
Magnus the Good, Magnus Barefoot, Magnus Erlendsson. Several Norwegian kings carried this name.
- Ivarsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Ivar
- Meaning: Son of Ivar, meaning bow warrior
Ivar was a Norse name combining the words for yew wood, used to make bows, and warrior.
- Halvordsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Halvor
- Meaning: Son of Halvor, meaning rock guardian
Halvor was one of the distinctly Norwegian first names that generated a widely used surname.
- Torstensen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Torsten
- Meaning: Son of Torsten, meaning Thor’s stone
Thor and stone combined. Immovable divine strength built into a name.
- Rolfsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Rolf
- Meaning: Son of Rolf, meaning famous wolf
Rolf the Ganger, also known as Rollo, was the Viking who founded Normandy in 911 CE. His descendants became the Norman kings of England.
- Einarsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Einar
- Meaning: Son of Einar, meaning one warrior
A name of individual courage. Einar was the name of many Viking Age heroes.
- Svensson
- Origin: Norwegian, from Svein
- Meaning: Son of Svein, meaning boy or servant
Svein Forkbeard was King of Denmark and England. His son Cnut became one of the greatest rulers in northern European history.
- Frithiofsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Frithiof
- Meaning: Son of Frithiof, meaning thief of peace
Frithiof the Bold is the hero of one of the great Norse romantic sagas. A name of passion and courage.
Norwegian Surnames From Nature
Norway is a country of extraordinary natural beauty and its surnames reflect that deeply. Fjords, mountains, forests, rivers, and the open sea all left their mark on the naming tradition.
- Fjeld
- Origin: Norwegian, from fjell
- Meaning: Mountain, rocky highland
The high, bare mountain plateaus of Norway. A landscape name of austere, powerful beauty.
- Elv
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: River
A family who lived near a major river. Norway’s rivers run fast and cold from the mountains to the sea.
- Skov
- Origin: Norwegian, Danish
- Meaning: Forest
A family from or near a forest. Forests covered much of Norway before modern settlement.
- Myr
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: Bog, marsh
A farm near marshy ground. Norway has extensive bogland in its lowland areas.
- Foss
- Origin: Norwegian, from foss
- Meaning: Waterfall
Norway has more waterfalls than almost any country on earth. Farms near waterfalls took this name and it spread widely.
- Grøn
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: Green
A color surname often referring to someone who lived near green meadows or pastures.
- Snø
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: Snow
A name connected to the deep snow that covers Norway for months every year.
- Isfjord
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: Ice fjord
A compound name from the ice-filled fjords of Norway’s northern coastline.
- Nordvik
- Origin: Norwegian, from nord and vik
- Meaning: Northern bay
A farm at a bay on the northern coast. Geographic specificity built into a two-word surname.
- Steinberg
- Origin: Norwegian, from stein and berg
- Meaning: Stone mountain
A farm on or near a rocky mountain. Compound nature names like this are very common in Norway.
- Sølvberg
- Origin: Norwegian, from sølv and berg
- Meaning: Silver mountain
A farm associated with a silvery or mineral-rich mountain.
- Granli
- Origin: Norwegian, from gran and li
- Meaning: Spruce hillside
A farm on a hillside covered with spruce trees. Spruce forests cover vast areas of Norway.
- Elvebakken
- Origin: Norwegian, from elv and bakke
- Meaning: River slope, riverbank
A farm on the sloping bank of a river. One of the more descriptive compound Norwegian farm names.
- Bjørklund
- Origin: Norwegian, from bjørk and lund
- Meaning: Birch grove
A farm near a grove of birch trees. Birch is one of the most characteristic trees of the Norwegian landscape.
- Strandvik
- Origin: Norwegian, from strand and vik
- Meaning: Shore bay
A farm at a bay on the shore. A doubly coastal compound name.
Famous Norwegian Surnames
Norway has produced some of the most remarkable people in history and these surnames carry their legacies. Writers, explorers, artists, and scientists who changed the world.
- Ibsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Ib
- Meaning: Son of Ib, a form of Jacob
Henrik Ibsen is considered the father of modern drama. A Doll’s House and Hedda Gabler changed theater forever.
- Grieg
- Origin: Norwegian, possibly from Scottish Greig
- Meaning: Possibly from a Scottish place name
Edvard Grieg composed the Peer Gynt suite and the Piano Concerto in A minor. The most beloved Norwegian composer.
- Munch
- Origin: Norwegian, from German Münch
- Meaning: Monk
Edvard Munch painted The Scream. One of the most recognized images in the history of art.
- Nansen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Nans
- Meaning: Son of Nans, possibly from a place name
Fridtjof Nansen was an Arctic explorer, scientist, and humanitarian who won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nansen passport helped stateless refugees after World War One.
- Amundsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Amund
- Meaning: Son of Amund, meaning divine protection
Roald Amundsen was the first person to reach the South Pole. He beat Robert Falcon Scott by five weeks in 1911.
- Heyerdahl
- Origin: Norwegian, from Heyerdal
- Meaning: From the farm Heyerdal
Thor Heyerdahl sailed a balsa wood raft called Kon-Tiki across the Pacific in 1947 to prove that Polynesia could have been settled from South America.
- Birkeland
- Origin: Norwegian, from bjørk and land
- Meaning: Birch land
Kristian Birkeland discovered what causes the Northern Lights. One of Norway’s greatest scientists.
- Lie
- Origin: Norwegian, from li
- Meaning: Hillside
Trygve Lie was the first Secretary-General of the United Nations. His surname simply means hillside.
- Brundtland
- Origin: Norwegian, from a farm name
- Meaning: From the farm Brundtland
Gro Harlem Brundtland was Norway’s first female Prime Minister and chaired the UN commission that defined sustainable development.
- Solberg
- Origin: Norwegian, from sol and berg
- Meaning: Sun mountain
Erna Solberg served as Prime Minister of Norway. Her surname means sun mountain.
- Wergeland
- Origin: Norwegian, from a farm name
- Meaning: From the farm Wergeland
Henrik Wergeland was Norway’s greatest romantic poet and a tireless advocate for Norwegian independence from Denmark.
- Bjørnson
- Origin: Norwegian, from Bjørn
- Meaning: Son of the bear
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1903. He wrote the words to the Norwegian national anthem.
- Undset
- Origin: Norwegian, from a farm name
- Meaning: From the farm Undset
Sigrid Undset won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 for her medieval novels Kristin Lavransdatter and The Master of Hestviken.
- Lie
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: Hillside
Already appeared above. Worth noting that Lie appears twice because it was carried by two remarkable Norwegians in completely different fields.
- Hamsun
- Origin: Norwegian, possibly from Hamsund
- Meaning: Possibly from a place name
Knut Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920. His novel Hunger is considered one of the founding works of modern literature. His later support for the Nazis remains deeply controversial.
Rare And Interesting Norwegian Surnames
These surnames appear less frequently but carry some of the most fascinating stories and meanings in the entire Norwegian tradition.
- Storeggen
- Origin: Norwegian, from stor and egg
- Meaning: Great edge or great ridge
A dramatic geographical name from a prominent edge of rock or land.
- Blåfjell
- Origin: Norwegian, from blå and fjell
- Meaning: Blue mountain
The blue haze that hangs over distant mountains on clear Norwegian days. One of the most visually evocative Norwegian surnames.
- Rødland
- Origin: Norwegian, from rød and land
- Meaning: Red land
A farm on reddish-colored soil. Iron-rich soil gave many Norwegian farms their distinctive color.
- Kverneland
- Origin: Norwegian, from kvern and land
- Meaning: Mill land
A farm near a grain mill. Kverneland is also the name of one of Norway’s most famous agricultural equipment companies.
- Tjelmeland
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: Uncertain, possibly from an old place name
One of the more unusual Norwegian surnames with an etymology that is still debated among name historians.
- Øverland
- Origin: Norwegian, from øver and land
- Meaning: Upper land, high land
A farm on higher ground above other farms. Made famous by the poet Arnulf Øverland.
- Faafeng
- Origin: Norwegian
- Meaning: Possibly from an old Norse word for a type of fishing trap
One of Norway’s most unusual surnames with a meaning connected to the old fishing tradition.
- Leirfall
- Origin: Norwegian, from leir and fall
- Meaning: Clay waterfall or clay landslide
A descriptive landscape name from a specific type of geological feature found in Norway.
- Kvamme
- Origin: Norwegian, from kvamm
- Meaning: Narrow valley, gorge
A farm in a narrow mountain valley. Norway’s geography of deep gorges produced many farms with this name.
- Ytterøy
- Origin: Norwegian, from ytter and øy
- Meaning: Outer island
A farm on an island that sat on the outer edge of an archipelago. Norway’s coastline is studded with thousands of such islands.
- Nordfjord
- Origin: Norwegian, from nord and fjord
- Meaning: Northern fjord
A geographical surname from the great Nordfjord region of western Norway.
- Vatnedal
- Origin: Norwegian, from vatn and dal
- Meaning: Water valley, lake valley
A valley with a lake or river running through it. A compound landscape name of real natural beauty.
- Skogstad
- Origin: Norwegian, from skog and stad
- Meaning: Forest settlement
A settlement in or near a forest. One of the most common compound farm name patterns in Norway.
- Isachsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Isak
- Meaning: Son of Isak, the Norse form of Isaac
The biblical Isaac meaning laughter. A name that came into Norway through the Christian tradition.
- Thorbjørnsen
- Origin: Norwegian, from Thorbjørn
- Meaning: Son of Thorbjørn, meaning Thor’s bear
Thor and bear combined into one of the most powerfully Norse compound names. A surname that carries the whole of the old world in it.
Wrapping Up
Ninety surnames from a country that gave the world the Vikings, the fjords, and some of the most extraordinary people in modern history.
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