Explore the Family Name Torstenson

The meaning of Torstenson

1. Americanized form (and a rare Swedish variant) of Swedish Torstensson: patronymic from the personal name Torsten, a variant of Thorsten (see Thorstensen). Compare Thorstenson. 2. Americanized form of Norwegian and Danish Torstensen, cognate with 1 above. Some characteristic forenames: Scandinavian Lennart, Selmer.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Torstenson saw a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 64,008th most popular surname; by 2010, however, it had dropped to become the 65,782nd most common name, marking a 2.77% decrease in rank. Despite its drop in rank, the actual number of individuals with the Torstenson name increased from 291 to 301, indicating a 3.44% rise.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#64,008	#65,782	-2.77%
Count	291	301	3.44%
Proportion per 100k	0.11	0.1	-9.09%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Torstenson

According to the Decennial U.S. Census, the ethnic identity associated with the Torstenson surname has seen some changes between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, nearly 94.50% of individuals with this name identified as White, but this proportion decreased to 90.70% by 2010. The percentage of those identifying as having two or more ethnicities also fell from 3.44% to 2.99%. Interestingly, the census recorded an emergence of Hispanic identity among the bearers of the Torstenson surname, rising to 3.99% in 2010 from zero in the previous decade. No individuals with this surname identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.5%	90.7%	-4.02%
Hispanic	0%	3.99%	0%
Two or More Races	3.44%	2.99%	-13.08%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%