Jensen
A Danish and Norwegian surname meaning “son of Jens,” with Jens being a short form of Johan or Johannes.
The #265 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 2,669 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Jensen is a patronymic surname built from the personal name Jens plus the Scandinavian son-suffix -en, meaning “son of.” Jens is a Danish and Norwegian short form of Johan, Johannes, or John. In literal terms, the surname means “Jens’s son.”
History
The name is especially common in Denmark and Norway, where patronymic surnames became fixed hereditary family names over time. Historical surname dictionaries also note that forms like Hansen, Olsen, and Jensen can look similar across Danish and Dutch contexts, because patronymic surnames of this type are widespread in northern Europe. In the United States, Jensen is a well-established immigrant surname and remains relatively common.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname scholars sometimes treated Jensen and similar names as examples of how short given names like Jens, Hans, and Johan became the basis for many northern European family names.
From the historical record
“JANSEN \ (Scand.) Jan's or Johan's Son JENSEN J = Johnson, q.v. in Diet. [Dan.- Norw. son, son] JOHANNESEN (Scand.) Johannes's Son 1 _ JOHANSEN (Scand.) Johan's Son J Johnson, q.v. in Diet. [Dan.-Norw.. jij«, son] JUNG (Ger.) Young [O.H.Ger. j««^]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)