A German and English surname of Hanson originally came from ‘hann’ which came from the name ‘Johann’. The surname of Hanson means son of Hans.

Spelling variations for Hanson include Hansen, Hanssen, Hans and Hansom.

The Scandinavian spellings for Hanson are Hansen and Hansson. The method of spelling Hanson in Ireland is McKittrick and Hampson.
In England, the Hanson surname started in Yorkshire county. Over the centuries most Hanson families remained in the northern English regions, including Lancashire. In the late 1800s many Hanson families moved to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In Scotland most Hanson families are in Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire counties.

Countries of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark are populated with many individuals with the Hanson surname.

Within the United States Hanson families are mostly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Washington, California, North Dakota, South Dakota and New York.

Famous: Ann-Louise Hanson (singer from Sweden), Curtis Hanson (film director), Kirk Hanson (professional baseball player), Howard Hanson (musical composer and conductor), Peter Hanson (professional golfer from Sweden), Roger Hanson (Civil War Confederate general), Vince Hanson (professional basketball player) and Fritz Hanson (football player for Canada).