A Scandinavian surname meaning 'son of Nils.' Notable bearers include Swedish singer Harry Nilsson and various Swedish athletes and musicians.
From Old Norse personal name 'Niels' or 'Nils' (Scandinavian form of Nicholas) plus the patronymic suffix '-son'. Nicholas ultimately derives from Greek 'Nikolaos' meaning 'victory of the people', making Nilsson literally 'son of the people's victory'.
The surname Nilsson carries the ancient Norse tradition of patronymic naming, where each generation's identity was literally built on their father's name. What's remarkable is how this medieval naming system persisted in Scandinavia long after most of Europe had switched to fixed family names, preserving a direct linguistic link to ancestry.
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