Explore the Family Name Thompsen

The meaning of Thompsen

Americanized form (and a rare Danish and Norwegian variant) of Danish and Norwegian Thomsen. Some characteristic forenames: Scandinavian Per, Tellef.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Thompsen saw a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Thompsen was ranked as the 33,206th most popular surname, while by 2010, it had slipped to 36,048th position, marking an 8.56% decrease in rank. The count of individuals with this surname also dropped from 649 in 2000 to 622 in 2010, constituting a decline of 4.16%. Proportionally, for every 100,000 people, those bearing the surname Thompsen decreased from 0.24 in 2000 to 0.21 in 2010, reflecting a 12.5% reduction.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#33,206	#36,048	-8.56%
Count	649	622	-4.16%
Proportion per 100k	0.24	0.21	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Thompsen

Examining the ethnic identity associated with the Thompsen surname according to the Decennial U.S. Census data, there were noticeable changes between 2000 and 2010. The largest group remained those identifying as White, although their percentage dipped slightly from 95.99% in 2000 to 93.41% in 2010. The categories seeing growth were those identifying as Hispanic and Black, increasing from 1.39% to 2.25% and 1.69% to 2.25% respectively. Interestingly, no Thompsens identified as Asian/Pacific Islander in 2010, down from 0.77% in 2000, and the category of Two or more races emerged in 2010 with 1.13%. No Thompsens identified as American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.99%	93.41%	-2.69%
Hispanic	1.39%	2.25%	61.87%
Black	1.69%	2.25%	33.14%
Two or More Races	0%	1.13%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.77%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%