Sorensen
A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Søren” or “son of Sören.”
The #1,251 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,000 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Sorensen is a patronymic surname built from the personal name Søren, with the ending -sen meaning “son of” in Danish and Norwegian naming practice. The given name Søren is a Scandinavian form related to Latin Severus, meaning “stern” or “severe.” In literal terms, the surname originally identified someone as the son of a man named Søren or Sören.
History
The surname is especially common in Denmark and among Danish-descended families abroad, and it spread widely through emigration to North America and other countries. In some regions the spelling Sörensen appears with the umlaut, while Sorensen is a common Anglicized form where diacritics were dropped. It is one of many Scandinavian surnames that began as a changing patronymic and later became fixed as a hereditary family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Danish and Norwegian patronymics were historically formed from the father's given name, many families in earlier centuries would have had changing surnames from one generation to the next before the name became permanent.