Eriksen
A Scandinavian patronymic surname meaning “son of Erik.”
The #8,496 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 79,635 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ericksen is a patronymic surname built from the personal name Erik, a Scandinavian form of Eric, plus the son-suffix -sen. The literal sense is “son of Erik.” The spelling with -ck- is a later Anglicized or variant form of the more common Scandinavian Eriksen / Eriksson-type pattern.
History
19th-century surname writers noted Ericksen among names common in Denmark and treated it as part of the broader Scandinavian -sen surname system. In English-speaking countries it is usually found among immigrant families or their descendants, with spelling variation often reflecting local record-keeping rather than a different origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same personal name, Erik, also gave rise to many related surnames across Scandinavia, including forms ending in -son, -sen, and -sson.
From the historical record
“Erickson, Gunson, Iverson, Jesson, Hebson, HiPSON, LowsoN, Anderson, with Hansen, Nan- sen, Jepsen, Ericksen, Gunnesen, Iversen, Jessen> Ebsen, Ipsen, Lauesen, Andersen, names common over the whole of Denmark. It does not follow that all the above names are exclusively Scan- dinavian, but I do take it that the…”
— The Teutonic Name-System applied to the family names of France, England and Germany