Explore the Family Name Jordahl

The meaning of Jordahl

Norwegian: habitational name from any of several farmsteads so named, from a compound of an unidentified word (probably a river name meaning ‘the shining river’, Old Norse Hjó) + Old Norse dalr ‘valley’. Some characteristic forenames: Scandinavian Erik, Juel, Lars.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Jordahl saw a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 20,319th most common surname, but by 2010 it had dropped to 24,466th. During this time frame, the count of individuals with the Jordahl surname also declined, from 1,217 in 2000 to 1,023 in 2010, a reduction of approximately 15.94 percent. The proportion of people named Jordahl per 100,000 also fell by about 22.22 percent, indicating that the Jordahl name became less common over this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#20,319	#24,466	-20.41%
Count	1,217	1,023	-15.94%
Proportion per 100k	0.45	0.35	-22.22%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Jordahl

In terms of ethnic identity, data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals that the majority of people with the Jordahl surname identify as White, with 96.96% in 2000 and 96.77% in 2010. This slight decline of 0.20% is not significant. The group identifying as two or more races decreased from 1.31% to 0.98%, while those identifying as Hispanic fell from 1.15% to 0.98%. Interestingly, there were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander during both census years. Also, in 2010, a small group (0.68%) identified as Black, which was not the case in 2000. There were no Jordahl individuals who identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	96.96%	96.77%	-0.2%
Two or More Races	1.31%	0.98%	-25.19%
Hispanic	1.15%	0.98%	-14.78%
Black	0%	0.68%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%