POULSEN
Poulsen is a patronymic surname of Danish origin, signifying son of Poul, where Poul is the Danish form of the given name Paul. The root of Paul traces back to the Latin Paulus, meaning “small” or “humble”, a term that evolved into a baptismal form of endearment across Christian Europe.
Records of the surname in its various spellings appear throughout the Christian world in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The earliest English entries include the name John Paul in the Subsidy Rolls of London dated 1292, during the reign of Edward the First. German registers also contain early forms, such as Ludolf Pauli, a citizen of Stettin noted in 1325. These early witnesses demonstrate the spread of the name from Scandinavia into neighbouring regions during the medieval period.
In Scandinavia, the surname is firmly established in Denmark, where it was already common by the sixteenth century and is today ranked among the top surnames, often recorded as the second or fifth most frequent in different surveys. It is also found extensively in Norway, Sweden, and Iceland, reflecting the shared linguistic heritage of the Nordic peoples. Variants such as Paulsen, Polsen, Poelsen, and Poulson are frequently encountered in Danish records.
The literal meaning of Poulsen is “son of Paul”, and the name forms part of the broader Scandinavian patronymic tradition in which a surname is derived from a paternal given name. In addition to the patronymic forms, the name has adopted other spelling variations across Europe, including Paulson, Paulsson, Paalsson, and Paalson. These variants share the same root but have evolved independently in various linguistic contexts.
In the modern era, the surname has dispersed beyond Scandinavia, largely through migration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is now common in Canada, the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany, where it often appears as the spelling Poulsen. In the United States, Poulsen remains the most frequent rendering, while Dutch records favour Paulsen.
The name’s early adoption reflects the profound influence of the Apostle Paul, whose conversion from Saul and subsequent missionary work endeared the name throughout Christian Europe. The enduring popularity of the surname across multiple countries testifies to the lasting cultural and historical significance of its patronymic origins.
Typical given names associated with the Poulsen surname
Male
- Anders
- Bjarne
- Charles
- Christian
- Claus
- Daniel
- Jesper
- John
- Mark
- Niels
- Peter
- Thomas
Female
- Ann
- Anne
- Camilla
- Christina
- Christine
- Helen
- Helle
- Inga
- Lisa
- Marjorie
- Mette
- Winnie
Similar and related surnames
- Pahlsson
- Palacin
- Palazon
- Palazzini
- Pallesen
- Palleson
- Pallison
- Pallsen
- Palsen
- Palson
- Palsson
- Paulsen
- Paulson
- Paulsson
- Pawliszyn
- Pawlyszyn
- Pelascini
- Pelisson
- Pelizzon
- Pellizzon
- Pelson
- Pillson
- Pilson
- Plesan
- Plisson
- Polcino
- Polcyn
- Poleson
- Polisano
- Pollicino
- Polsani
- Polsen
- Polson
- Polzin
- Poulsom
- Poulson
- Poulsson
- Poulsum
- Powleson
- Powlson
- Pulcini
- Pullicino
- Pullson
- Pulson
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Poulsen in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 210 people named Poulsen in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around three in a million people in Britain are named Poulsen.
Origin: Scandinavian
Region of origin: Europe
Country of origin: Norway
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Norwegian
