Viking surnames did not exist in the Viking Age: a Viking was known as somebody’s son or daughter, so Erik’s son Leif was Leif Eriksson. The surnames called Viking today are later fixed versions of those patronymics, such as Olsen, Eriksen and Svensson, plus Norwegian farm names, Swedish nature names and British surnames built from Old Norse words, such as Gill, Kirby and Thorburn. Olsen, the most common surname with a Viking first name inside it, belongs to 44,682 people in Norway, according to Statistics Norway.
This guide is part of our Scottish Names collection. Start with the full Scottish Names directory, our Viking names hub for first names and bynames, and the deeper list of Scottish Viking surnames for Caithness, Orkney and the Hebrides.
This is for anyone with a -sen or -son name wondering whether there is a longship somewhere in the family tree, and for people researching Norse roots in a British or Scottish surname. Every surname in the checker has its origin, its meaning from a named source, the countries where it is common, and real counts from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. We also flag the ones that look Viking but are not, because there are a lot more of those than most lists admit.
Two Scots Abroad · Scottish names
Viking surname checker
100 surnames people call Viking, checked against the sources. Filter by type, by where the name is common, and by whether the root really goes back to a Viking Age name or word.
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Did Vikings have surnames?
No, not in the modern sense. A Viking had a given name, a patronymic and, often, a byname. The patronymic simply said whose child you were: Sigurd’s son was Sigurdsson and Sigurd’s daughter was Sigurdsdóttir. When the son had a boy of his own, the new baby took the father’s first name, not the old -sson ending, so the “surname” changed every generation. Bynames such as Fairhair, Bloodaxe and the Boneless did the job that a surname does now, telling one Harald from another. Our male Viking names guide has the stories behind the famous ones.
Iceland still works this way. Under the Icelandic naming system, most people carry a patronymic ending in -son or -dóttir, and since 2019 people registered as neither gender can use -bur, meaning child. Family names did creep in: they rose from 108 in 1855 to 297 in 1910, and new ones were banned in 1925. So an Icelandic Einarsdóttir is not the descendant of an Einarsdóttir. Her father is simply called Einar.
Quick answer: if your surname ends in -sen or -son and comes from Norway, Denmark or Sweden, it was probably fixed in the 1800s or early 1900s from a great-great-grandfather’s first name. Whether that first name was Viking is the real question, and the answer is often no.
When Scandinavians got fixed surnames
Fixed family names arrived late in Scandinavia, and each country got there by law. Store norske leksikon says only about 2 per cent of Norwegians had a fixed surname around 1800. The rest used a patronymic, a farm name, or both.
| Country | When | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark | 1771 (Schleswig) and 1828 | Naming acts made families pick a hereditary surname. Most chose the patronymic they already had, which is why a few -sen names dominate. Later acts in 1856, 1904, 1961, 1981 and 2005 pushed people towards rarer names. |
| Sweden | 1901 | The Names Adoption Act abolished patronymics as a system. The -sson names that were frozen in place are still Sweden’s most common surnames. |
| Norway | 1923 | The Names Act required a fixed surname and ended patronymics as a system. Many families took the name of their farm instead of a -sen name. |
| Iceland | 1925 | New family names were banned. Patronymics ending in -son and -dóttir are still the norm. |
The Danish result is striking. According to Scandinavian family name etymology, about a third of Danes carry one of the ten most common surnames, and more than two-thirds have a -sen patronymic somewhere in their full name. In Norway the farm took over: Store norske leksikon says farm names are now the most common type, held by about two-thirds of Norwegians, with Berg, Haugen and Hagen at the top.
Which -sen and -son surnames are really Viking?
Aye, but fewer than you would think. By the 1800s, when the names were frozen, the most fashionable first names in Scandinavia were Christian saints’ names brought in by the church and by Danish and German influence. So the biggest -sen names are mostly built on Hans, Johan, Lars, Anders, Peder and Nils, and those come from the Bible, Latin and Greek, not from the Viking Age.
| Surname | Norway, 2025 | First name inside it | Viking root? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hansen | 47,879 | Hans, a German short form of Johannes | No |
| Johansen | 45,604 | Johan, from Johannes | No |
| Olsen | 44,682 | Ole, the Danish form of Olav | Yes |
| Larsen | 34,833 | Lars, from Latin Laurentius | No |
| Andersen | 34,382 | Anders, from Greek Andreas | No |
| Pedersen | 32,685 | Peder, from Petrus (Peter) | No |
| Nilsen | 31,657 | Nils, from Greek Nikolaos | No |
| Jensen | 21,253 | Jens, a Danish form of Johannes | No |
| Karlsen | 19,636 | Karl, an old Germanic name meaning free man | Partly |
Sweden tells the same story. Of the top ten surnames counted by Statistics Sweden in 2021, Andersson (221,511), Johansson, Nilsson, Larsson and Persson are built on church names. Eriksson (133,030), Olsson (100,429) and Svensson (88,835) are the genuine Viking ones, built on Erik, Ola and Sven. Karlsson is Germanic, and the meaning of Gustav, behind Gustafsson, is disputed.
Denmark is the starkest. Its top five in 2022 were Nielsen (236,397), Jensen (233,713), Hansen, Andersen and Pedersen, and not one of them comes from a Viking name. Olsen is the first clearly Norse patronymic on the Danish list, in 14th place with 44,629 people.
The -sen names with real Viking roots
These are the Norwegian patronymic surnames where the first name inside goes straight back to Old Norse. The meanings are from the Store norske leksikon first-name articles, written by the place-name and personal-name scholar Gulbrand Alhaug.
| Surname | Son of | Meaning of the first name | People in Norway, 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olsen | Ole | ancestor + heir | 44,682 |
| Eriksen | Erik | alone, unique + ruler | 18,162 |
| Halvorsen | Halvor | flat stone + watchman | 10,578 |
| Gundersen | Gunder | battle + warrior | 9,630 |
| Iversen | Iver | yew + warrior, or a form of Ingvar (disputed) | 9,588 |
| Svendsen | Svend | young man | 9,223 |
| Knutsen | Knut | knot | 8,088 |
| Amundsen | Amund | protector, with a front part meaning very or sword edge | 7,007 |
| Arnesen | Arne | eagle | 4,928 |
| Thorsen | Tor | the god Thor | 4,646 |
| Gulbrandsen | Gulbrand | god + sword | 4,320 |
| Torgersen | Torger | Thor + spear | 3,455 |
| Thoresen | Tore | Þórir, probably from the god Thor | 3,389 |
| Helgesen | Helge | the holy one | 3,314 |
| Tollefsen | Tollef | Thor + heir | 2,203 |
| Bjørnsen | Bjørn | bear | 1,443 |
| Haraldsen | Harald | army + ruler | 1,382 |
| Erlandsen | Erland | foreigner | 1,337 |
| Aslaksen | Aslak | god + combat | 994 |
| Einarsen | Einar | outstanding warrior | 913 |
| Asbjørnsen | Asbjørn | god + bear | 856 |
| Rolfsen | Rolf | fame + wolf | 389 |
| Sigurdsen | Sigurd | victory + guardian | 371 |
| Gunnarsen | Gunnar | battle + warrior | 205 |
A few of these hide their Viking first name well. Gundersen is built on Gunder, an old Danish spelling of Gunnar. Tollefsen comes from Tollef, a spoken form of Torleif, Thor’s heir. Gulbrandsen is from Gulbrand, a variant of Gudbrand, meaning god plus sword. Thoresen is from Tore, the Norse Þórir, which probably goes back to the god Thor himself. Iversen comes from Iver, a form of Ivar that was the usual spelling in Norway’s 1801 census.
Two in the middle are honest half-measures. Magnussen is a Viking Age patronymic but Magnus is Latin for great, a name that reached the north through Charlemagne’s fame. Karlsen is from Karl, an old Germanic name meaning free man that the Vikings shared with their neighbours. Both are fair to call Viking surnames, as long as nobody claims the name itself is Norse.
Norwegian farm names: surnames from the land
Most Norwegians who do not have a -sen name carry the name of a farm. These are made of ordinary Norse landscape words, the same kind of words found in place names across Shetland and Orkney, but they became surnames in the 1800s and 1900s, not in the Viking Age. A family living at the farm by the bay became Vik; the family on the hill became Haugen.
| Surname | Meaning | People in Norway, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Berg | mountain or hill | 17,344 |
| Haugen | hill or mound | 13,746 |
| Hagen | enclosed pasture | 13,418 |
| Dahl | valley | 11,177 |
| Moen | meadow | 9,910 |
| Bakken | the hill or rise | 7,481 |
| Lie | side of a valley | 7,267 |
| Bakke | hill or rise | 6,653 |
| Vik | bay or inlet | 4,955 |
| Dalen | the valley | 2,449 |
| Viken | the bay | 2,185 |
| Rud | clearing | 380 |
Berg tops the farm list with 17,344 people in Norway, and Statistics Sweden counts another 21,406 Bergs in Sweden. If your surname is one of these, the words in it are older than the Vikings, but the surname itself is modern. That is still a braw link to the old country: it usually points to one specific farm, and if you ken the parish, the records can often find it. For the Scottish side of place-based surnames, see our guide to Scottish surnames from places.
Swedish nature names
Sweden added a third type. When families gave up patronymics, many made up a new surname from two nature words, often with the first part pointing at the home district. Wikipedia gives the example of the Strindberg family, from Strinne plus berg, with the second part just ornamental. Soldiers were also given short, sharp names under the military allotment system, such as Sköld, meaning shield.
- Lindberg, linden tree plus mountain: 26,841 people in Sweden in 2021
- Bergström, mountain plus stream: 20,450
- Lind, linden or lime tree: 20,269
- Bergqvist, mountain plus twig: 13,093
- Dahlberg, valley plus mountain: 9,719
These are bonnie names, but they are not Viking. Treat them as Swedish surnames made from Norse-descended words in the last two centuries.
Viking surnames in Britain
Here the story is older. In England and lowland Scotland, Old Norse words and personal names were absorbed into everyday speech after the Viking settlements, and some of them turned into surnames in the Middle Ages, centuries before Scandinavia fixed its own. In a Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine feature from March 2026, Molly McGee picked out names traced to Old Scandinavian by the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain.
| Surname | Old Norse root | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Askew | eikiskógr | oak wood |
| Brand | brandr | firebrand, sword-blade |
| Clegg | kleggi | gadfly, horsefly |
| Gill | gil | deep glen, ravine |
| Holt | holt | wood, thicket, grove |
| Kay | kei (one origin) | left-handed |
| Kerr | kjarr | marsh or swampy woodland |
| Kirby | kirkja + bý | church + farmstead or village |
| Osborne | Old English Ōsbern from Ásbiǫrn | god + bear |
| Osmond | Ásmundr | god + protection |
| Raven | Middle English Raven from hrafn | raven |
| Skinner | skinn | one who stripped hides |
| Thorburn | Þorbiǫrn | Thor + bear |
| Wroe | vrá | nook, corner of land |
| Hammond | Hámundr | a Norse personal name, perhaps via Normandy |
| Coulson | kolr + sveinn (believed) | swarthy + young man |
Some are named after a place or a feature of the land, like Gill for a ravine, Holt for a wood and Kirby for a church farmstead, from the same root as the Scots kirk. Some are nicknames: Kay for a left-handed man and Clegg, a horsefly, for someone who would fash you all day. Osborne, Osmond, Thorburn and Hammond come from full Norse personal names, so in a sense they are frozen Viking first names, the same as Olsen.
Watch out for: the magazine is careful on one point that is worth repeating. A surname with a Norse root does not prove Viking descent. The Vikings did not pass down surnames, and a name such as Gill or Holt could be taken by any family living near a ravine or a wood once the word was part of the local tongue.
Viking surnames in Scotland
Scotland has its own route: the Gaelic Mac. The Norse-Gaels of the Hebrides and the west coast mixed Norse and Gaelic families, and Norse first names were taken into Gaelic. When their descendants took clan surnames, those names came along inside the Mac.
| Surname | Gaelic form | Norse name inside it |
|---|---|---|
| MacAulay | Mac Amhlaibh | Óláfr (Olaf) |
| MacAskill | Mac Asgaill | Áskell |
| MacIver | Mac Ìomhair | Ívarr (Ivar) |
| MacCorquodale | Mac Corcadail | Þorketill (Thorketil) |
| MacLeod | Mac Leòid | Ljótr (Leod) |
| McKittrick | Mac Shitrig | Sigtryggr (Sigtrygg) |
Clan MacLeod takes its name from Leod, a 13th-century Norse-Gael, and his sons Tormod and Torquil founded the two main branches, both with Norse names too. Clan Gunn claims descent from Gunni, whose name meant war, and who came to Caithness at the end of the 12th century through his wife Ragnhild, heir to her brother Harald Maddadsson, Earl of Orkney. There is another view that the Gunns were Gaelic from the start, so it is fair to call that one likely rather than certain.
Orkney and Shetland are different again: Norn, the Norse language of the islands, lasted long enough to leave its own surnames, covered in our Shetland and Orkney names guide. For how Mac names work in general, see our list of Gaelic last names, and for the clan side, Scottish clan surnames explained.
Viking surname claims we checked
Lists of Viking surnames are shared widely, and some repeat meanings that do not hold up. One example is a list of 30 Norse names published by The Scotsman, which carries no sources. Here is how some of its claims compare with the reference books.
| Claim | What the sources say | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Askew means ash wood | Oak wood, from eikiskógr (Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain) | Wrong tree |
| Clegg means haystack | Gadfly or horsefly, from kleggi (same source) | Wrong |
| Sanderson is a Viking patronymic | Sander is a short form of Aleksander, a Greek name (Store norske leksikon) | Not Norse |
| Janson is a Viking patronymic | Jan is a form of Johannes, a Hebrew name via Greek and Latin (Store norske leksikon) | Not Norse |
| Leifson: Leif means beloved | Leif means heir or descendant (Store norske leksikon) | Wrong meaning |
| Ketill and Ulf are surnames | Both are Old Norse first names; they live on inside surnames rather than as surnames | Misleading |
| Raven, Gunn, Thorburn and Osmond have Norse roots | Agreed by the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain | Correct |
| MacAulay comes from Olaf | Agreed: Mac Amhlaibh, from Óláfr (Norse-Gaels) | Correct |
It is a wee reminder that a surname list without sources is a starting point at best. If a meaning matters to you, look for it in a named surname dictionary or a national encyclopedia.
How to tell if your surname is Viking
- Strip off the ending. Take away -sen, -son, -sson, -dóttir or Mac and look at the first name left behind. Erik, Ivar, Svend, Halvor and Gunnar are Norse. Hans, Lars, Anders, Jens and Nils are not.
- Check where the name was fixed. A Norwegian -sen name was usually fixed in the 1800s or by the 1923 law. A British name from a Norse word may be centuries older.
- Look for landscape words. Berg, Dahl, Vik, Haug, Gill and Holt are Norse words, but the surname tells you about a place, not a person.
- Use a proper dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Store norske leksikon both name their sources. Name generators do not.
- Do not stop at the name. A Norse surname is a clue about language and place, not proof of descent. Parish records and DNA are what answer the family question.
Quick list: all 100 Viking surnames
| Surname | Type | Meaning | Where | Viking verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amundsen | Patronymic | son of Amund (protector, with a front part meaning very or sword edge) | Norway | Viking root |
| Andersen | Looks Norse | son of Anders, the Nordic form of Greek Andreas | Norway, Denmark | Not a Viking root |
| Andersson | Looks Norse | son of Anders, from Greek Andreas | Sweden | Not a Viking root |
| Arnesen | Patronymic | son of Arne (eagle) | Norway | Viking root |
| Asbjørnsen | Patronymic | son of Asbjørn (god + bear) | Norway | Viking root |
| Askew | British | oak wood | Britain | Viking root |
| Aslaksen | Patronymic | son of Aslak (god + combat) | Norway | Viking root |
| Bain | British | straight, direct; or ready to serve, hospitable | Britain | Viking root |
| Bakke | Farm name | hill or rise | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Bakken | Farm name | the hill or rise | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Berg | Farm name | mountain or hill | Norway, Sweden | Norse words, later surname |
| Bergqvist | Swedish nature | mountain + twig | Sweden | Norse words, later surname |
| Bergström | Swedish nature | mountain + stream | Sweden | Norse words, later surname |
| Bjørnsen | Patronymic | son of Bjørn (bear) | Norway | Viking root |
| Bottle | British | remedy + battle (a woman’s name) | Britain | Viking root |
| Brand | British | firebrand, sword-blade | Britain | Viking root |
| Cartwright | British | cart maker | Britain | Viking root |
| Clegg | British | gadfly, horsefly | Britain | Viking root |
| Cotter | Gaelic Mac | son of Ottar | Ireland | Viking root |
| Coulson | British | swarthy + young man | Britain | Viking root |
| Dahl | Farm name | valley | Norway, Sweden | Norse words, later surname |
| Dahlberg | Swedish nature | valley + mountain | Sweden | Norse words, later surname |
| Dalen | Farm name | the valley | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Dott | British | lazy, wretched creature | Britain | Viking root |
| Einarsdóttir | Icelandic | daughter of Einar; a patronymic, not a family name | Iceland | Viking root |
| Einarsen | Patronymic | son of Einar (outstanding warrior) | Norway | Viking root |
| Eriksen | Patronymic | son of Erik (alone, unique + ruler) | Norway | Viking root |
| Eriksson | Patronymic | son of Erik | Sweden | Viking root |
| Erlandsen | Patronymic | son of Erland, a form of Erlend (foreigner) | Norway | Viking root |
| Gadd | British | a sharp metal spike, a goad | Britain | Viking root |
| Gill | British | deep glen, ravine | Britain | Viking root |
| Gulbrandsen | Patronymic | son of Gulbrand, a form of Gudbrand (god + sword) | Norway | Viking root |
| Gundersen | Patronymic | son of Gunder, an old Danish spelling of Gunnar (battle + warrior) | Norway | Viking root |
| Gunn | British | from gunnr, war; the Clan Gunn founder Gunni came to Caithness in the late 1100s | Britain, Scotland | Viking root |
| Gunnarsen | Patronymic | son of Gunnar (battle + warrior) | Norway | Viking root |
| Gunnarsson | Patronymic | son of Gunnar (battle + warrior) | Sweden, Iceland | Viking root |
| Hagen | Farm name | enclosed pasture | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Halvorsen | Patronymic | son of Halvor (flat stone + watchman) | Norway | Viking root |
| Hammond | British | a Norse personal name, perhaps via Normandy | Britain | Viking root |
| Hansen | Looks Norse | son of Hans, a German short form of Johannes | Norway, Denmark | Not a Viking root |
| Haraldsen | Patronymic | son of Harald (army + ruler) | Norway | Viking root |
| Haugen | Farm name | hill or mound | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Helgesen | Patronymic | son of Helge (the holy one) | Norway | Viking root |
| Holt | British | wood, thicket, grove | Britain | Viking root |
| Ingebrigtsen | Looks Norse | son of Ingebrigt, the Norwegian form of German Engelbrekt | Norway | Not a Viking root |
| Iversen | Patronymic | son of Iver, a form of Ivar | Norway | Viking root |
| Jensen | Looks Norse | son of Jens, the Danish form of Johannes | Denmark, Norway | Not a Viking root |
| Johansen | Looks Norse | son of Johan, a German short form of Johannes | Norway, Denmark | Not a Viking root |
| Johansson | Looks Norse | son of Johan (Johannes) | Sweden | Not a Viking root |
| Johnsen | Looks Norse | son of Jon, from Johannes via Greek and Hebrew | Norway | Not a Viking root |
| Karlsen | Patronymic | son of Karl (free man, an old Germanic name) | Norway | Viking root |
| Karlsson | Patronymic | son of Karl (free man) | Sweden | Viking root |
| Kay | British | left-handed | Britain | Viking root |
| Kerr | British | marsh or swampy woodland | Britain, Scotland | Viking root |
| Kirby | British | church + farmstead or village | Britain | Viking root |
| Knutsen | Patronymic | son of Knut (knot) | Norway | Viking root |
| Kristiansen | Looks Norse | son of Kristian, from Latin Christianus | Norway | Not a Viking root |
| Larsen | Looks Norse | son of Lars, from Latin Laurentius | Norway, Denmark | Not a Viking root |
| Larsson | Looks Norse | son of Lars (Laurentius) | Sweden | Not a Viking root |
| Lie | Farm name | side of a valley | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Lind | Swedish nature | linden (lime) tree | Sweden | Norse words, later surname |
| Lindberg | Swedish nature | linden tree + mountain | Sweden | Norse words, later surname |
| MacAskill | Gaelic Mac | son of Áskell (god + helmet or cauldron) | Scotland | Viking root |
| MacAulay | Gaelic Mac | son of Olaf | Scotland | Viking root |
| MacCorquodale | Gaelic Mac | son of Thorketil (Thor + cauldron) | Scotland | Viking root |
| MacIver | Gaelic Mac | son of Ivar | Scotland | Viking root |
| MacLeod | Gaelic Mac | son of Leod, a 13th-century Norse-Gael | Scotland | Viking root |
| Magnussen | Patronymic | son of Magnus (Latin, great) | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Magnusson | Patronymic | son of Magnus (Latin, great) | Sweden, Iceland | Norse words, later surname |
| McKittrick | Gaelic Mac | son of Sigtrygg | Scotland, Ireland | Viking root |
| Moen | Farm name | meadow | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Nielsen | Looks Norse | son of Niels, the Danish cousin of Nils, from Greek Nikolaos | Denmark | Not a Viking root |
| Nilsen | Looks Norse | son of Nils, ultimately Greek Nikolaos | Norway | Not a Viking root |
| Nilsson | Looks Norse | son of Nils (Nikolaos) | Sweden | Not a Viking root |
| Ólafsdóttir | Icelandic | daughter of Ólafur; a patronymic, not a family name | Iceland | Viking root |
| Olofsson | Patronymic | son of Olof, the Swedish form of Olav | Sweden | Viking root |
| Olsen | Patronymic | son of Ole, the Danish form of Olav (ancestor + heir) | Norway, Denmark | Viking root |
| Olsson | Patronymic | son of Ola or Olof, later forms of Olav | Sweden | Viking root |
| Osborne | British | god + bear | Britain | Viking root |
| Osmond | British | god + protection | Britain | Viking root |
| Pedersen | Looks Norse | son of Peder, the Danish form of Peter | Norway, Denmark | Not a Viking root |
| Persson | Looks Norse | son of Per (Peter) | Sweden | Not a Viking root |
| Pettersen | Looks Norse | son of Petter, the Norwegian form of Peter | Norway | Not a Viking root |
| Rasmussen | Looks Norse | son of Rasmus, from Latin Erasmus | Denmark, Norway | Not a Viking root |
| Raven | British | raven | Britain | Viking root |
| Rolfsen | Patronymic | son of Rolf (fame + wolf) | Norway | Viking root |
| Rud | Farm name | clearing | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Sigurdsen | Patronymic | son of Sigurd (victory + guardian) | Norway | Viking root |
| Sigurðsson | Icelandic | son of Sigurður; a patronymic, not a family name | Iceland | Viking root |
| Skinner | British | one who stripped hides | Britain | Viking root |
| Svendsen | Patronymic | son of Svend (Sveinn, young man) | Norway | Viking root |
| Svensson | Patronymic | son of Sven (young man) | Sweden | Viking root |
| Thorburn | British | Thor + bear | Britain, Scotland | Viking root |
| Thoresen | Patronymic | son of Tore (Þórir, probably from the god Thor) | Norway | Viking root |
| Thorsen | Patronymic | son of Tor (the god Thor) | Norway | Viking root |
| Tollefsen | Patronymic | son of Tollef, a spoken form of Torleif (Thor + heir) | Norway | Viking root |
| Torgersen | Patronymic | son of Torgeir (Thor + spear) | Norway | Viking root |
| Vik | Farm name | bay or inlet | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Viken | Farm name | the bay | Norway | Norse words, later surname |
| Wroe | British | nook, corner of land | Britain | Viking root |
Viking surnames FAQ
Did Vikings have last names?
No. Vikings used patronymics, such as Leif Eriksson, meaning Erik’s son, along with bynames such as Forkbeard or Fairhair. These changed with each generation. Fixed family names came much later: by law in Denmark in 1828, Sweden in 1901 and Norway in 1923. Iceland still uses patronymics.
What is the most common Viking surname?
Among surnames with a Viking first name inside them, Eriksson is the biggest in Sweden, with 133,030 people in 2021, followed by Olsson and Svensson. In Norway it is Olsen, with 44,682 people in 2025, and in Denmark Olsen again, with 44,629 in 2022.
Is Anderson or Johnson a Viking surname?
No. Anders comes from the Greek Andreas and Johan from Johannes, both brought north by the church. The -son ending works the Norse way, but the names inside are biblical. The same goes for Hansen, Larsen, Jensen, Nilsen and Pedersen.
What Scottish surnames are Viking?
MacAulay (from Olaf), MacAskill, MacIver (from Ivar), MacCorquodale, MacLeod and Gunn all trace back to Norse personal names. Kerr and Thorburn have Old Norse roots too, and Orkney and Shetland have many island surnames from Norn.
What does -sen or -son mean in a surname?
Son. Norwegian and Danish -sen comes from the Danish spelling, Swedish and Icelandic use -son or -sson, and the women’s form was -datter in Norway and Denmark and -dóttir in Iceland, meaning daughter.
Final thoughts on Viking surnames
The honest answer is that no surname comes directly from a Viking, but plenty carry a Viking name or word inside them. Olsen, Eriksen, Svensson, Thorburn and MacAulay all do. Hansen, Andersson and Jensen, despite the look of them, do not.
Use the checker to see where yours sits, then follow the first name inside it. If you want to choose a name for a bairn rather than trace one, the first-name hub linked at the top has the Old Norse originals.
Sources
- Statistics Norway, Names (table 12891, surnames), 2025
- Statistics Sweden, most common surnames (BE0001T03Ar), 2021
- Store norske leksikon, etternavn
- Store norske leksikon, first-name articles by Gulbrand Alhaug
- Scandinavian family name etymology, Wikipedia
- Icelandic name, Wikipedia
- Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, Viking surnames (March 2026)
- Norse-Gaels, Wikipedia
- Clan Gunn, Wikipedia
- Clan MacLeod, Wikipedia
