The surname Christensen comes from Scandinavia, especially Denmark and Norway, and it is a patronymic name meaning “son of Christen” or “son of Christian.”

Name origin

  • Christen is an older personal name related to Christian.
  • The suffix -sen means “son of” in Danish and Norwegian naming traditions.
  • So Christensen literally means a descendant of someone named Christen or Christian.

Where it spread

  • The surname is strongly associated with Denmark and Norway, and it later spread to places like the United States through migration.
  • It has several spelling variants, including Christiansen , Christenson , and Christinsen.

Quick scoop

In plain terms, Christensen is a classic Scandinavian family name that originally meant “son of Christian.”