Explore the Family Name Folden

The meaning of Folden

1. Norwegian: habitational name from either of two farmsteads in central Norway, originally taking their names from a fjord named ‘the wide (fjord)’. 2. Scottish: variant of Fulton, a habitational name from Fulton in Bedrule, Roxburghshire. 3. English: habitational name from Foulden in Norfolk, from Old English fugol ‘bird’ + dūn ‘hill’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Folden saw a slight shift in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 17,924th most common surname in the U.S., but by 2010, it had fallen slightly to the 18,561st position, indicating a decrease of 3.55%. However, the total count of individuals with this surname increased by 3.34% during this decade, from 1,438 in 2000 to 1,486 in 2010. Meanwhile, the proportion of Foldens per 100,000 people dropped by 5.66%, from 0.53 to 0.5.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#17,924	#18,561	-3.55%
Count	1,438	1,486	3.34%
Proportion per 100k	0.53	0.5	-5.66%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Folden

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of individuals with the surname Folden identify as White. From 2000 to 2010, this group decreased slightly from 90.54% to 87.69%. During the same period, there were noticeable increases in the Hispanic and "Two or more races" categories, rising by 74.54% and 30.62% respectively. The number of Foldens identifying as Black also went up moderately, by 13.70%. Meanwhile, those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander saw a decrease of 16.07%, while the American Indian and Alaskan Native category saw an increase of 32.89%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	90.54%	87.69%	-3.15%
Black	4.38%	4.98%	13.7%
Hispanic	2.16%	3.77%	74.54%
Two or More Races	1.6%	2.09%	30.62%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.76%	1.01%	32.89%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.56%	0.47%	-16.07%