Explore the Family Name Karvonen

The meaning of Karvonen

Finnish: from karva ‘fur, hair’ (based on a nickname such as Karvajalka ‘hairy-legged’ or Karvarinta ‘hairy chest’) + the surname suffix -nen. Recorded as a hereditary surname since the Middle Ages in Savonia and Karelia, and since the 16th century also in northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu. Some characteristic forenames: Finnish Aaro, Eino, Mauno, Petri, Reino, Sulo, Tauno, Waino.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Karvonen has seen a slight decline in rank from 47,654 in 2000 to 47,706 in 2010, indicating a small decrease of 0.11%. However, the overall count of individuals with this surname rose by 6.22%, from 418 in 2000 to 444 in 2010. The proportion of persons with this surname per 100k has remained stable at 0.15 in both census years.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#47,654	#47,706	-0.11%
Count	418	444	6.22%
Proportion per 100k	0.15	0.15	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Karvonen

As for ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of individuals with the surname Karvonen identify as White, with an increase from 94.50% in 2000 to 95.27% in 2010. The proportion of those identifying as having two or more ethnicities declined by 21.60%, from 2.87% in 2000 to 2.25% in 2010. Interestingly, there was a small emergence of Hispanic identification within this population, growing to 1.35% in 2010 from zero in the previous census. No individuals identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these census years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.5%	95.27%	0.81%
Two or More Races	2.87%	2.25%	-21.6%
Hispanic	0%	1.35%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%