How common is the surname Petersen?

58,480 people in the United States had the surname Petersen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,280 Americans. It ranked 571st of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Petersen?

In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Petersen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Petersen?

William Petersen, American actor (born 1953), followed by Paul Petersen.

Where is the surname Petersen most common?

Wikidata records people named Petersen in the United States, Australia and the Kingdom of Denmark and 1 other country.

Is the surname Petersen getting more or less common?

More common. 55,185 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 58,480 in 2010, up 6.0%.

The surname Petersen

A Danish surname, carried by 58,480 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex P362

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Petersen is more common than 99.6% of them.

Origin

Danish origin

From Danish Petersen or, less often, from Norwegian Petersen.

One of 50 Danish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 58,480 people named Petersen in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 5,280 Americans. That is up 6.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 55,185.

#571

rank among US surnames

58,480

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+6%

change since 2000 (was #543)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#562	Trevino	59,882	5,156
#563	McKenzie	59,595	5,181
#564	Hess	59,486	5,190
#565	Beil	59,463	5,192
#566	Olsen	59,356	5,202
#567	Cochran	59,350	5,202
#568	Morton	59,213	5,214

Who is named Petersen

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

93% of people named Petersen identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.6% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 93%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.6%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.3%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Petersens

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

William Petersen
American actor (born 1953)
Paul Petersen
Actor, writer, activist, born 1945
Colin Petersen
Australian actor and musician (1946–2024)
Sandy Petersen
American game designer (born 1955)
Cal Petersen
American ice hockey player, born 1994
Toby Petersen
American ice hockey player, born 1978
Forrest Silas Petersen
American Naval Rear Admiral (1922–1990)
Mads Conrad-Petersen
Badminton player, born 1988
Hjalmar Petersen
American politician (1890–1968)
Wilhelm Petersen
Baltic German lepidopterist (1854-1933)

Notable Petersens come mostly from the United States (7), Australia (1) and the Kingdom of Denmark (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Petersen

Petersen has the Soundex code P362, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P362.

Other Danish surnames

All 50 Danish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Petersen come from?: From Danish Petersen or, less often, from Norwegian Petersen.
How common is the surname Petersen?: 58,480 people in the United States had the surname Petersen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 5,280 Americans. It ranked 571st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Petersen?: In the 2010 Census, 93% of people named Petersen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Petersen?: William Petersen, American actor (born 1953), followed by Paul Petersen.
Where is the surname Petersen most common?: Wikidata records people named Petersen in the United States, Australia and the Kingdom of Denmark and 1 other country.
Is the surname Petersen getting more or less common?: More common. 55,185 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 58,480 in 2010, up 6.0%.