Naming Traditions ROOTED in SWEDEN Genealogy Workshop
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no 9 2010-09 ROOTED IN SWEDEN Genealogy Workshop spreading the word at my workplace Mini theme: Naming traditions Grimeton Radio Station The Swenson Center | DISCOUNT contents Swedish naming traditions 3 15 Swedgen Tour 2010 5 Christening traditions 6 The Swenson Center 7 16 5 Grimeton Radio Station 10 Discount 15 7 Genealogy workshop 16 The Digital Race 18 firstly... 10 I would like to express my regrets that the Summer issue of Rooted in Sweden for various reasons has tur- ned into an Autumn issue. For all Rooted readers, I hope it has been a Summer of rest, relaxation and re- search. 19 This issue contains a kind of mini whereas Summercloud, Mango and kept by the next generation. The typi- theme with a focus on names. Names Puma have been approved. cal soldier’s names were later spread are of course at the centre of all ge- to the trades people of the parish, the nealogy, and essential to a successful A century ago, and before that it taylor and the blacksmith and so on. research is the understanding of the was easier to change your name. The naming tradition. In recent years, that other day, my boss told me about her My family name is a typical soldier’s is the last century or so, the naming ancestor who wanted to pick a family name adopted, not by a soldier but tradition has changed with the disap- name, and chose the same name as by a forest ranger, and inherited by pearance of patronymicons. People the village blacksmith, because he generation after generation since the no longer inherit their father´s first liked the name. For us this would 1770’s. name in their surname, and the likes be unthinkable. I wonder what the of Persson, Svensson and Nilsson are blacksmith thought! I hope this will be an enlightening used as family names, generation af- theme and that it will help you all in ter generation. There are rules that The soldier’s name is something eve- your quest for relatives of the past. If say what names you can and cannot ry genealogist will encounter sooner you have any questions, don’t hesitate adopt, and a board that makes deci- or later. These were used to tell the to contact me at [email protected]. If I sions in each case. You cannot take Hans Hanssons and the Nils Nilssons can’t answer, I’ll guide you to some existing names or brandnames. App- apart. Normally they would no longer one who can. legate and Winslet have been rejected use their soldier’s name after the dis- Joachim Schönström as they are names of famous actors, missal, but in many cases they were 2 • rooted in Sweden no 9 • September 2010 text: Joachim Schönström images: SwedishBertil naming traditions Landegren text: Olof Cronberg Knowing the Swedish naming tra- cords (“döpt hemma för dess svag- pulation, names such as Mikael and ditions is very helpful in tracing hets skull – baptized at home due to Henrik are more common. They are your ancestors. As the topic is weakness”). rare in southern Sweden. often discussed and ever present, it’s time for a repeat of an article In the rural parishes, the children There are also differences in time. from an earlier Rooted in Sweden, usually received only one name, The name Per was common in 1700, no 3 from 2006. while in the towns and in 19th cen- but was replaced by Peter or Petter tury, it was more and more common in 1800. Later the name is not unu- The given or first names, the child- with two or three names. Below are sual, but not on the top ten list. In the ren received at the baptism. Usual- lists of the most common names at same way, the female name Sissela, ly, it took place within one or two different years. The name lists 1700, became Sissa which became Cecilia. weeks. If it was a long way to church 1800 & 1900 are extracted from or in later 19th century, it could take those birth years in the DISBYT There were no exact rules. The child a longer time to get baptized. If the database. The names from 2000 are could be named after a deceased child was considered to be in poor from Statistics Sweden. relative, or a prominent witness, or condition, the child could be bapti- just have a popular name. However, zed at home, but the normal proce- When doing research in Sweden, there are some rules seen very often. dure was in church. If baptized at you realize that there are naming home, it is noted in the church re- differences in Sweden. Some 1. If a widower or widow remar- 1700 1800 1900 2000 names are more common in ried, the next child of the correct sex Anna Anna Maria Julia northern Sweden and other inherited the name of the deceased Kerstin Maria Anna Emma names in southern Sweden. husband or wife. Examples of male names Karin Brita Elisabet Wilma 2. If a child died, it is common that Brita Stina Ingeborg Hanna more common in Skåne in southern Sweden: Jöns, Jep- the next child of the same sex inhe- Margareta Katarina Margareta Elin pe, Mårten, Truls. In Central rited the name of their older sibling. Maria Kristina Kristina Linnéa Sweden Jöns would be Jon 3. If a son receives the name of the Katarina Kajsa Rut Amanda or Johan, and Mårten would grandfather without being the first Elisabet Kerstin Linnéa Ida be Martin. Jeppe and Truls child, you will often find that the Sara Greta Ester Matilda are uncommon. In areas of grandfather has died in the year be- Ingeborg Margareta Elsa Moa Sweden with a Finnish po- fore the child’s birth. September 2010 • rooted in Sweden no 9 • 3 If there is more than one child with Maria Persdotter, his name 1700 1800 1900 2000 the same given name in a family, it could be Anders Persson, Anders Anders Karl Filip is likely that the older child has died. but in some cases he still Per Petter Johan Oscar Rarely there could be more than one got his father’s first name as Olof Nils Erik William child with the same name. I have a patronymic. I have seen seen it once in Skåne and once on examples where the father’s Nils Erik Gustav Viktor Gotland. The reason is then that the first name was so rare, so Erik Olof Oskar Simson younger child is named after another there was no doubt about Lars Johan Nils Anton relative than the first child. who the father was. In most Johan Johannes Axel Erik cases, it is hard to guess Sven Lars Gunnar Alexander There are two main types of surna- the father of an illegitimate Jöns Karl Olof Emil mes: patronymics and family names. child based on a patrony- Hans Jonas Jon/John Lucas The patronymics changed for every mic name. generation and were not converted Another population group changing to family names until late 19th cen- Patronymics were dropped earlier surnames were the soldiers. They tury. Surnames ending with –son in the towns and replaced by family got soldier’s names when they were or –dotter are patronymics, for ex- names. I have seen a few cases in recruited. At some period, the na- ample Andersson and Andersdotter. 18th century where the patronymic mes were created as above, but at The daughters were called Anders- name was used as an inherited fa- other periods they were just adjec- dotter, which simply means Anders’ mily name. However, it is very rare tives such as Stark (Strong), Frisk daughter just as Andersson means that women uses a surname ending (Healthy), Ståhl (Steel) or Envis Example of the use Olof Jonasson In this case Anders surname is Eriksson, because of patronymics 1745-1802 his father’s first name was Erik. Although Erik Erik Olofsson Brita Persdotter during a period used Hörberg as a surname his Hörberg 1747-1793 son didn’t adopt that name. The reason was 1778-1838 that Hörberg was a soldier’s name, which Erik Anders Eriksson Olof Månsson received when he was a soldier for Horsby 1810-1856 1752-1782 Kvädaregård, Tarsled parish. (Can anybody Maria Olofsdotter guess why he used Hörberg and not Horberg 1780-1855 Kirstin Bengtsdotter as a surname?). Maria used the surname Olofs- 1755-1782 dotter, not because her husband was an Olofs- son, but since her father’s first name was Olof. Anders’ son. The surname of the with –son before the end of the 19th (Stubborn). Sometimes they were child thus depended on the father’s century, so if I see a womn called funnier: Alltidglad (Always happy) given name. The normal spelling of Andersson before 1870, I would as- or Näsvis (Cheeky). These names the -son names are with two s’s as sume it to be an error until proven were used during the time they were opposed to the tradition in America, otherwise. soldiers. Often the following soldier thus Andersson and not Anderson. inherited the surname, but not al- When creating a family name, one ways the children. I am a descendant Of course, this was a problem if often used a part of the place that of a soldier called Per Näsvis (where the child was born illegitimate. In one was from and added another Näsvis was derived from the villa- the birth record the child’s surname element. Family names from Mal- ge Näsby), but for some reason his is seldom written.