Fun Facts About the Name Hansen
- 887 babies named Hansen: U.S. records list 887 babies given the name Hansen from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Hansen Mean?
Hansen is a patronymic name meaning "son of Hans," formed in the Scandinavian languages. It comes from the personal name Hans, the everyday German and Scandinavian short form of Johannes (John). Johannes goes back through Latin Iohannes and Greek Ioannes to Hebrew Yochanan, traditionally explained as "Yahweh is gracious." The second part of Hansen is the patronymic ending -sen, from a word for "son."
The literal sense is a family relationship, not a description of a person: a Hansen was originally "Hans's son." In Danish and Norwegian usage the matching form for a daughter was -datter, as in Hansdatter. The -sen ending is Danish and Norwegian, and it also appears in Low German and Frisian naming in northern Germany, where Hans is likewise common. Swedish instead uses -sson, giving Hansson.
Hansen Name History & Origins
Names of the Hansen type were used in Denmark, Norway, and the Danish- and German-speaking Duchy of Schleswig. In the Middle Ages and afterward a person's byname was normally built from the father's given name, so brothers and sisters could carry different bynames and the same byname changed hands from one generation to the next. A man named Hans would have sons recorded as Hansen and daughters as Hansdatter in Danish records.
Over the 18th and 19th centuries these patronymics hardened into inherited family names. The custom of fixed surnames spread through Denmark during the 19th century and was reinforced by naming legislation there, while in Norway hereditary family names became legally required only with the personal names act of 1923. Once fixed, Hansen passed unchanged to daughters as well as sons and stopped shifting with each generation.
Hansen traveled with Scandinavian emigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially to the United States and Britain, and it is a common surname in Denmark and Norway. Names that look similar are not always related. English Hanson is usually "son of Hann," a medieval English pet form of John, and Swedish Hansson uses that language's -sson ending.
As a first name, Hansen is a transferred use of the surname, found mainly in Scandinavia and among families of Scandinavian descent elsewhere. A well-known bearer of the surname is the Norwegian physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, who identified the bacterium that causes leprosy in 1873; the disease is still sometimes called Hansen's disease in his honor.
How Popular is the Name Hansen?
Hansen has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2016. Its best rank was #3,113 in 1987.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #3,335 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 2024 | #3,341 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 2023 | #3,741 | 30 | 0.0018% |
| 2022 | #4,213 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2021 | #3,602 | 31 | 0.0018% |
| 2020 | #3,856 | 27 | 0.0016% |
| 2019 | #4,687 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 2018 | #3,821 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 2017 | #4,806 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2016 | #3,184 | 36 | 0.0019% |
| 2015 | #4,778 | 20 | 0.0010% |
| 2014 | #3,831 | 27 | 0.0014% |
| 2013 | #5,758 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2012 | #5,330 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2011 | #4,267 | 23 | 0.0012% |
| 2010 | #6,820 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2009 | #5,650 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2008 | #5,587 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2007 | #4,166 | 24 | 0.0012% |
| 2006 | #5,160 | 17 | 0.0008% |
| 2005 | #3,272 | 31 | 0.0016% |
| 2004 | #4,055 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 2003 | #4,679 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2002 | #3,841 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 2001 | #4,355 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 2000 | #6,495 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1999 | #3,422 | 23 | 0.0012% |
| 1998 | #4,490 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1997 | #3,944 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1996 | #7,424 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #3,933 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1994 | #4,173 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1993 | #4,094 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1992 | #3,516 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1991 | #5,239 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1990 | #4,505 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1989 | #6,474 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #4,561 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1987 | #3,113 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1986 | #3,327 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1985 | #3,480 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1984 | #5,854 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #5,740 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #3,565 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1981 | #4,687 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1980 | #5,150 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1978 | #4,721 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1977 | #5,385 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1971 | #4,609 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1970 | #5,007 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1963 | #3,159 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1951 | #3,190 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1917 | #3,728 | 6 | 0.0006% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Hansen Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You attract success and money. You are a lover of nature and do not need others for your happiness. You are self sufficient. You strive for material success and power and have business sense. You possess strong organizational abilities, can be a good manager, and executive by nature. You are capable of great achievement in business and finance. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Hansen's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Hansen's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.