Olsen

Son of Ole — the patron-king Olav's name.

Origin: Norwegian
Register: Norwegian family

The seat of Olsen

Seat vacant

Chief

No one leads the Olsen community yet. When the movement opens, you can stand for its leadership, or help elect whoever does.

Current mission

No shared goal set yet. Once Olsen has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.

The Olsen clan is being rebuilt. Join the waiting list for the movement today, and you help decide who leads it and what it does.

Help rebuild the Olsen clan →

What does the Olsen name mean?

'Son of Ole' (Olav) — Olav, 'ancestor's descendant', the deepest of Norwegian royal names, borne by Saint Olav, the king who Christianised the country. The Norwegian twin of the Swedish Olsson.

The history of Olsen

Olav was the name of Saint Olav, the warrior-king who fell at Stiklestad in 1030 and became the eternal king of Norway, its patron and the figure on its coronation regalia. His name, worn to Ole, gave the patronymic Olsen — a top-rank surname of Norway, the -sen face of Sweden's Olsson.

Also found in

The Olsen name has substantial historical presence beyond Norwegian. See it on Danish.

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Frequently asked

What does the surname Olsen mean?

'Son of Ole' (Olav) — Olav, 'ancestor's descendant', the deepest of Norwegian royal names, borne by Saint Olav, the king who Christianised the country. The Norwegian twin of the Swedish Olsson. Olav was the name of Saint Olav, the warrior-king who fell at Stiklestad in 1030 and became the eternal king of Norway, its patron and the figure on its coronation regalia.

Is Olsen a Norwegian surname?

Olsen is primarily a Norwegian surname; it also has substantial historical presence in Danish. The editorial home of the name in this atlas is Norwegian, where the record is densest, with the cross-border presence noted under "Also found in".

How old is the Olsen surname?

Olav was the name of Saint Olav, the warrior-king who fell at Stiklestad in 1030 and became the eternal king of Norway, its patron and the figure on its coronation regalia. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Olsen name took its modern form within that long settlement.

What is the Olsen family known for?

Son of Ole — the patron-king Olav's name. Olav was the name of Saint Olav, the warrior-king who fell at Stiklestad in 1030 and became the eternal king of Norway, its patron and the figure on its coronation regalia.

Where is the Olsen surname found today?

Norwegian is the primary historical home of the Olsen surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Norwegian origin recorded on this page.

What does the Clan Rising page for the Olsen family cover?

The Clan Rising page for the Olsen family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Norwegian so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.

Who is the head of the Olsen family today?

The seat for the head of the Olsen family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.