Explore the Family Name Melhus

The meaning of Melhus

1. Norwegian: habitational name from the name of several farmsteads in Trøndelag, from mel ‘middle’ + hus ‘house’, i.e. ‘the house (or farm) in the middle’. 2. Altered form of Norwegian Mjølhus: habitational name from any of the seven places (in Rogaland, for instance) named with Old Norse mjǫl ‘flour’ + hus ‘house’.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Melhus saw a slight change from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, it was the 81,100th most popular surname in the United States, but by 2010, it had moved up to rank 77,264, marking a 4.73% increase. The number of people carrying this surname also increased from 217 to 248 during this period, reflecting a growth rate of 14.29%. Despite these changes, the proportion of individuals with this surname per 100,000 people remained consistent at 0.08.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#81,100	#77,264	4.73%
Count	217	248	14.29%
Proportion per 100k	0.08	0.08	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Melhus

The ethnic identities associated with the surname Melhus also saw some shifts between 2000 and 2010 according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. The majority of those with the Melhus surname identify as White, although there was a slight decrease from 95.85% in 2000 to 94.35% in 2010. There was a small but notable increase in the percentage identifying as Hispanic, which rose from 3.69% to 4.03% over the decade. No significant changes were observed among those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native, with percentages remaining near zero in both census years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.85%	94.35%	-1.56%
Hispanic	3.69%	4.03%	9.21%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%