Knudsons

Knudson is a surname of Northern European origin. It is a patronymic derived from the given name Knud, the Danish and Norwegian form of Knut. Variants include Knudsen and Knutsen, while the Anglicized form Knudson is common in North America. The name traditionally means “son of Knud” and is associated with families of Scandinavian descent who emigrated to North America and other regions.

Historically, the name appears in records in Denmark, Norway, and among Scandinavian emigrants to Canada and the United States from the 19th century onward.

Notable people with the surname Knudson include Alfred G. Knudson (1922–2016), an American physician-scientist who proposed the two-hit hypothesis to explain the genetic mechanism of retinoblastoma, and George Knudson (1937–2000), a Canadian professional golfer who won multiple championships.

Related surnames include Knudsen and Knutsen; modern distributions reflect migration and anglicization.