Erstad

Erstad is a surname of Scandinavian origin, commonly found among people with Norwegian ancestry and in communities with Nordic heritage. It is typically considered to be toponymic, arising from geographic names or farm names that were carried into family names, with the suffix -stad a frequent element in Nordic place names meaning a place or homestead. Over time, the name has spread to other regions, particularly where Norse or Nordic-descended communities settled.

Notable people with the surname include Darin Erstad (born 1974), an American former professional baseball player who spent most of his major league career as an outfielder and first baseman and later pursued coaching at the collegiate level. His career and post-playing contributions have made the name recognizable in American baseball circles.

Erstad may also appear in geographic contexts as part of place-based naming traditions in Scandinavia, where farms or settlements historically carried the name and were later adopted by families as surnames. While Erstad remains relatively uncommon, it is a distinctive example of Nordic toponymic surnames that have persisted into contemporary naming patterns.