Explore the Family Name Peltonen

The meaning of Peltonen

Finnish: ornamental and topographic name from pelto ‘field’ (compare Pelto) + the surname suffix -nen. Established as a hereditary surname mostly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Satakunta, Tavastia, and central Finland, but a few examples in eastern Finland are on record since the 16th century. Some characteristic forenames: Scandinavian Erik. Finnish Esko, Kimmo, Tapio. German Fritz.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Peltonen witnessed a slight decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. Ranked 60,230th in 2000, it dropped to 61,297th place in 2010, representing a -1.77% change. However, the count of individuals with the Peltonen surname increased by 4.79%, from 313 persons in 2000 to 328 in 2010. This increase did not correlate with a rise in proportion per 100k people, as that figure declined slightly by -8.33%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#60,230	#61,297	-1.77%
Count	313	328	4.79%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.11	-8.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Peltonen

Regarding ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates that in 2010, the majority of individuals with the Peltonen surname identified as White, at 92.07%. This was a slight decline from 93.29% in 2000. Those identifying with two or more ethnicities saw a significant rise, from 1.92% in 2000 to 4.27% in 2010, denoting a 122.40% increase. The portion identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native decreased from 2.24% to 1.83%. No individual with the Peltonen surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or Black in either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.29%	92.07%	-1.31%
Two or More Races	1.92%	4.27%	122.4%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	2.24%	1.83%	-18.3%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%