Explore the Family Name Molde

The meaning of Molde

1. Norwegian: habitational name from the farm name Molde, derived from a word meaning ‘soil rich in humus, topsoil’. 2. North German: metonymic occupational name from Middle Low German molde ‘oblong wooden bowl (used for baking etc.)’. 3. English: variant of Mould. This surname is rare in Britain.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Molde saw a slight dip in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 81,100 but fell to 84,748th place by 2010, marking a 4.5% drop. Despite this decline in ranking, the actual count of individuals with the Molde surname increased marginally from 217 to 221, exhibiting a 1.84% growth rate. However, when accounting for general population growth, the proportion of people named Molde per 100,000 actually decreased by 12.5%, demonstrating that the name did not keep pace with overall population expansion.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#81,100	#84,748	-4.5%
Count	217	221	1.84%
Proportion per 100k	0.08	0.07	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Molde

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Molde also changed somewhat between 2000 and 2010 according to the same Decennial U.S. Census data. While the majority of individuals with this surname identified as White (94.01% in 2000 and 89.14% in 2010), there was a noticeable increase in those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander. This group grew from representing 3.69% of Moldes in 2000 to 9.05% in 2010, an impressive 145.26% increase. Meanwhile, other ethnic identities such as Hispanic, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native were either absent or had data suppressed for privacy concerns in both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.01%	89.14%	-5.18%
Asian/Pacific Islander	3.69%	9.05%	145.26%
Two or More Races	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%