Petersen

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Petersen is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname65K records spelled Petersen8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Argentina, Brazil, France

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French

  Also written Pétersen, Petersén

• a separate surname35K records spelled Petersen2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Petersén

• Polish surname3.0K records spelled Petersen5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States, Czechia, Slovakia

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Slovak

  Also written Petersén

• Danish surname1.8K records spelled Petersen81 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Denmark, United States, Norway, United Kingdom

  Languages: Danish, English, Norwegian Bokmål

  Also written Pedersen, Pederson

66 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Petersen is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, Patronymic to Peter with suffix -sen; strongest in Schleswig, showing northern -sen formation.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 3: Morphologie der Familiennamen

• In German, Patronymic surname; suffix -sen, with variant [Paul]sen; bearer count not given.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 3: Morphologie der Familiennamen

• In Danish, a common surname originating as a patronymic

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In German, Patronym zu Peter, mit Suffix -sen (Vatername 'Sohn des Peter'); 13155 Belege.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 3: Morphologie der Familiennamen

• In German, Patronym aus Rufname Peter/Petrus; Typ mit Suffix -sen. Bearer count: 13490. Morphologisches Muster: -sen neben -s und Ø.

  as a name·Deutscher Familiennamenatlas, Band 3: Morphologie der Familiennamen

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

GL Statistics Greenland — Surnames (NAXT1) — 11 years between 2011–2021. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Emma Assonb. 1889EEnot in their usual nameEstonian politician and pedagogue (1889–1965)
• Wolfgang Petersenb. 1941DEGerman film director (1941–2022)
• Colin Petersenb. 1946AUAustralian actor and musician (1946–2024)
• William Petersenb. 1953USAmerican actor
• King Diamondb. 1956DKnot in their usual nameDanish musician
• Klaus-Dieter Petersenb. 1968DEGerman handball player
• Ellen Dorrit Petersenb. 1975NONorwegian actress
• Sara Petersenb. 1987DKDanish hurdler
• Nils Petersenb. 1988DEGerman association football player
• Reileyb. 1997FOnot in their usual nameFaroese singer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 128 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Petersen?

We estimate roughly 143 thousand people bear Petersen (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Petersen have the most bearers?

We estimate about 69 thousand people bear Petersen in Denmark, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled petersen.

Where is Petersen most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Petersen is densest in Greenland — about 1 in 28 people — even though Denmark holds more of our records for it.

How common is Petersen compared with other names?

In Denmark, Petersen is the 11th most common surname of 100,227 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Petersen mean?

Recorded meaning: From the Scandinavian and North German form of Peterson.