Hansen surname meaning

Hansen is the Danish and Norwegian form of a patronymic: Hans plus -sen, “son of Hans.” Hans is a short form of Johannes, the biblical personal name that gave English John and many European equivalents. In Scandinavia, patronymics were historically generated anew in each generation, so unrelated families could acquire Hansen independently; later hereditary surname rules made the form permanent. Hansson and Hanssen show nearby Swedish and Germanic spellings, while Hanson is common in English records. Parent’s name and high confidence describe the surname’s straightforward linguistic structure.