History of our use of the surname HANSEN

In the beginning of documented recent family history, there were two men named Hans, one born in 1681 in Denmark, one born in 1802 in Norway.  They became fathers to sons named Christen and Carl Christian both of whom took their father's first name Hans and being their sons added the suffix 'sen' to the 'Hans' resulting in the first use of our surname as their surname HANSEN.

A strange but true fact:  The family surname 'Hansen' originated as we use it today first as a Danish surname through Emma Vilate Hansen, then as Norwegian through Charles Augustus Hansen about 121 years later.  We were Hansens through her family before we were Hansens through his!  So in fact, keeping her maiden name of Hansen was not such a novelty to her after all. 

In Charles' family line via his Great Grandfather Hans Larsen, born about 1802 in Tune, Ostfold, Norway.  His son Carl Christian Hansen (Charles' Grandfather), born 1828, took the surname Hansen and was the first of Charles' Norwegian ancestors to use that surname.  

Interestingly, it was actually another man, a Dane by the name of Hans Skomager on Emma Vilate's family line born about 1681 by whom our use of the family surname of 'Hansen' actually originated.  Hans was her 4th Great Grandfather on her father's side born in Stokkemarke, Maribo, Denmark.  His son seems to have been the first direct ancestor with the Hansen surname, he was Christen Hansen born about 1707 and with the common custom of Scandinavian patronyms (ie. adding son or dotter to the father's given name) he became 'Hans' son or 'Hansen'.  Thus we have the earliest origin of the surname of Hansen in relatively recent history actually through our Emma Vilate's lineage about 121 years earlier.

To be more literally correct however, according to lineage traced through the LDS 'Family Tree' there have been other limited sporatic uses, rather than continuous, of the surname 'Hansen' scattered back during the last thousand years.  For purposes of this project however, we'll stick to the documentation contained herein and enjoy it.