Jensen (surname)

Jensen is a surname of Scandinavian origin. Jensen literally means "son of Jens". In the 2001 it was the most common surname in Denmark, but nowadays it is the second most common surname in Denmark, where it is shared by about 5% of the population. 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.