Where does “Petersen” come from?

Petersen comes from Danish Petersen, comprising Danish Peter from Ancient Greek Πέτρος and Danish søn from Old Danish sun, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European suHnús meaning "son."

Ancestry of “Petersen”, step by step

Petersen traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Danish Petersen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1DanishPetersen—
2DanishPeterPeter biblical figure
3Old NorsePétr—
4LatinPetrusPeter
5Indonesianpenembakshooter
6Indonesiantembakto shoot to fire a shot
7Malaytembakto shoot
8MalaytimbakObsolete form of tembak
9Proto-Malayictimbak—
10Proto-Malayo-Polynesianti(m)bak—

via Norwegian Petersen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1NorwegianPetersen—
2NorwegianPeterPeter biblical figure
Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ti(m)bak →Every word from Proto-Malayic timbak →Every word from Malay timbak →