Nystrom
A surname of Scandinavian origin, most likely built from words meaning “nest” and “stream.”
The #8,030 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 74,902 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Nystrom is generally understood as a Scandinavian name formed from elements meaning “nest” and “stream” or “river.” In Swedish, the usual spelling is Nyström, from ny (“new”) and ström (“stream”), though older surname collections sometimes propose other folk-etymological splits. The form without the diacritic, Nystrom, is the common anglicized spelling used in the United States.
History
The surname is most strongly associated with Sweden and Swedish-speaking emigrant communities, especially in North America. Anglicized spellings such as Nystrom became common after immigration, when diacritics were often dropped from official records. In the U.S. it is a relatively uncommon Swedish-American surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Swedish spelling Nyström uses the letter ö, which is often simplified to o in English-language records.
From the historical record
“woman. Nystrom. Nye^ a nest ; streom, a stream. Nest-stream. O. Obdyke. Ob, off; die, bank, mound. Off the bank.”
— Family Names from the Irish, Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman and Scotch