How common is the surname Johansen?

9,815 people in the United States had the surname Johansen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 31,456 Americans. It ranked 3,619th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Johansen?

In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Johansen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Johansen?

David Johansen, American singer (1950–2025), followed by Iris Johansen.

Where is the surname Johansen most common?

Wikidata records people named Johansen in the United States, Norway and Australia.

Is the surname Johansen getting more or less common?

More common. 9,509 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,815 in 2010, up 3.2%.

The surname Johansen

A patronymic surname, carried by 9,815 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex J525

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Johansen is more common than 97.8% of them.

Origin

From North Germanic (Danish Johansen and Norwegian Johansen), patronymic from Johan + -sen.

Johansen is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 9,815 people named Johansen in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 31,456 Americans. That is up 3.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 9,509.

#3,619

rank among US surnames

9,815

people in 2010

3.3

per 100,000 Americans

+3.2%

change since 2000 (was #3,440)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,610	Chou	9,834	31,396
#3,611	Caswell	9,827	31,418
#3,612	Weinberg	9,825	31,424
#3,613	McMurray	9,824	31,428
#3,615	Musser	9,820	31,440
#3,616	Canada	9,819	31,444
#3,617	Witte	9,816	31,453

Who is named Johansen

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

93% of people named Johansen identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.6% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 93%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.1%
Two or more races 1.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Johansens

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

David Johansen
American singer (1950–2025)
Iris Johansen
American novelist, born 1938
Sigleif Johansen
Biathlete, born 1948
John M. Johansen
American architect (1916–2012)
Darryl Johansen
Australian chess player, born 1959

Notable Johansens come mostly from the United States (3), Norway (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Johansen

Johansen has the Soundex code J525, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code J525.

Questions

Where does the surname Johansen come from?: From North Germanic (Danish Johansen and Norwegian Johansen), patronymic from Johan + -sen.
How common is the surname Johansen?: 9,815 people in the United States had the surname Johansen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 31,456 Americans. It ranked 3,619th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Johansen?: In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Johansen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Johansen?: David Johansen, American singer (1950–2025), followed by Iris Johansen.
Where is the surname Johansen most common?: Wikidata records people named Johansen in the United States, Norway and Australia.
What type of surname is Johansen?: Johansen is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Johansen getting more or less common?: More common. 9,509 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,815 in 2010, up 3.2%.