Norwegian Americans: U.S. Census

All of the United States censuses after 1850 give the birthplace of each person. Indexes to available censuses can be found at FamilySearch.org. The Norwegians can be isolated in each year by etering Norway into the Birthplace field.

Learn how to use each census collection on these pages: • 1 For many family history researchers the 1900 U.S. Census is of tremedous help. That is the first census that gives the year of immigration, which can be very helpful in getting ones ancestor back to the "old country". The year of immigration is also given in the 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses.

Emigration records from Norway start 1867. Therefore, United States census records for 1850 and 1860 can be of great help in identifying one's Norwegian ancestors already here in America. Although the census records do not usually give the place of birth in Norway, many give an additional "last name" or the farm name in Norway, making it possible to trace a person back to Norway, and to determine a person's age.