Jensen (surname)

Jensen is a surname of Scandinavian origin.[1] Jensen literally means son of Jens. In the 2001 it was the most common surname in Denmark,[2] but nowadays it is the second most common surname in Denmark, where it is shared by about 5% of the population.[3] It is also very common in other Scandinavian countries such as Norway, where it is the ninth most common surname, but nevertheless shared by about 5% of the population. The name is also in use in the Faroe Islands.

There was no "Jensen family," merely a system of patronymics that was finally fixed in the 19th century at an arbitrary time, when the state bureaucracy required family names; before that people took their name from their father's first name.[4]