The Knudsen Family Name

Heraldry is personal: arms associated with the Knutson surname were borne by specific families, and sharing the name does not mean sharing the blazon.

What Knudsen means

Ancestors listed as Knudsen are often found as Knutson a generation earlier. The family name meaning is “Son of Knut”, the same as for Knutson.

Knudsen is listed among the recognised spellings of Knutson. Spellings drifted because names were written down by ear in parish books, tax rolls and passenger lists. The same family of names includes Knudtsen, Knutsen and Knudson. The Census Bureau's 2010 surname file lists Knudsen with 9,104 bearers, at rank 3,898. That is enough to place it in the top 5,000 American surnames.

For the full story, order the Knudsen surname pack.