Sorenson
A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Søren” or “son of Sören,” ultimately tied to the personal name Severin.
The #2,284 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,343 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Sorenson is a patronymic surname formed from the given name Søren, with the suffix -son meaning “son of.” Søren is the Scandinavian form of the Latin name Severinus, ultimately related to Severus, meaning “stern,” “serious,” or “severe.” So the surname originally identified someone as the son of a man named Søren or a closely related regional form such as Sören.
History
The name is common in Danish and Norwegian tradition, and it also appears in Swedish spelling as Sörenson or Sörensson. In North America, Sorenson became especially familiar through immigration from Scandinavia and through the gradual freezing of patronymic names into hereditary surnames. It remains most strongly associated with Danish and Norwegian ancestry.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The spelling with -sen is more characteristically Danish or Norwegian, while -son forms like Sorenson are often an Anglicized North American variant.