A German, Danish and Norwegian surname, Rasmussen comes from the Latin term ‘Erasmos’ which meant to love. The spelling variations for Rasmussen include Rasmus and Erasmus. In Denmark the Rasmussen family name is very common, the ninth most populated surname. In England the Rasmussen family name is populated the most in the city of London, Essex, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey, Hampshire, Cornwall, Lancashire, Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. In the central and eastern portions of Scotland is where many with the Rasmussen surname have lived for years. The higher percentage are in Fife, Perthshire, Midlothian and Renfrewshire counties. Within the United States the original Rasmussen families settled in the early to mid-1800s and were in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Utah and California. Famous: Flemming Rasmussen (music producer from Denmark), Blair Rasmussen (professional basketball player), Erik Rasmussen (professional ice hockey player), Bruce Rasmussen (television producer in USA), Andres Fogh Rasmussen (Prime Minister of Denmark), Sunleif Rasmussen (classical music composer from the Faroe Islands), Scott Rasmussen (co-founder of ESPN - sports network), Flint Rasmussen (champion bull rider and rodeo barrel man), Rie Rasmussen (model, actress and director from Denmark), Kyle Rasmussen (champion alpine skier), Peter Rasmussen (professional footballer from Denmark), Les Rasmussen (creator of the software for Google Maps) and Knud Johan Rasmussen (Danish explorer of polar, arctic regions and Greenland).