Explore the Family Name Berntsen

The meaning of Berntsen

Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, and German: patronymic from the personal name Bernt. Compare Bernsen, Berntson, and Bensen 3. Some characteristic forenames: Scandinavian Bernt, Erik, Knut.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Berntsen in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Berntsen witnessed a decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 26,419th in popularity, but by 2010, it had dropped to 28,829th, marking a 9.12% decrease. The count of individuals bearing this surname also fell from 869 to 825, representing a 5.06% decrease. Consequently, the proportion of individuals named Berntsen per 100,000 people decreased by 12.5%, moving from 0.32 to 0.28.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#26,419	#28,829	-9.12%
Count	869	825	-5.06%
Proportion per 100k	0.32	0.28	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Berntsen

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Berntsen also underwent changes between 2000 and 2010 as per the Decennial U.S. Census. The majority of individuals with this surname identified as White, although there was a slight decrease from 92.64% to 91.52%. The percentage of those identifying as Hispanic saw an increase, rising from 2.53% to 3.15%. People identifying as part of two or more races increased substantially in this period, going up by 250.72% to reach 2.42%. However, those who identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native went down significantly from 3.57% to 1.7%. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or Black in either 2000 or 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
White	92.64%	91.52%	-1.21%
Hispanic	2.53%	3.15%	24.51%
Two or More Races	0.69%	2.42%	250.72%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	3.57%	1.7%	-52.38%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%