Norwegian Genealogical Word List

This Norwegian Word List contains Norwegian words with their English translations. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Norwegian-English dictionary. (See the "Additional Resources" section below.)

Norwegian is a Germanic language like Swedish, Danish, and Icelandic. There are two official dialects in Norway. Prior to 1915 most Norwegian records are in a language closer to written Danish than to modern Norwegian. You may also want to refer to the Danish Genealogical Word List.

Records published after 1915, such as family and local histories, are in modern Norwegian. Most differences between modern and old Norwegian are simply a matter of spelling. Carefully study the section below on spelling. This will help you find the words in this list.

LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS
Variant Forms of Words

In Norwegian, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in a sentence. Who—whose—whom or marry—marries— married are examples of words in English with variant forms. The endings of a word in a document may differ from those in this list. For example:

Alphabetical Order
Written Norwegian has three letters not found in the English alphabet: Æ (æ), Ø (ø), and Å (å). In most record sources prior to 1915, Å (å) is written as Aa (aa) and filed at the beginning of the alphabet. Modern Norwegian dictionaries, indexes, the Locality section of the Family History Library Catalog, and this word list use the following alphabetical order:

a b  c  d  e  f  g  h  i  j  k  l  m  n  o  p  q  r  s  t  u  v  w  x  y  z  æ  ø  å

A

absolvere                          to give absolution adel                                   nobility adelig                                noble adelsmann                         nobleman adoptert                             adopted adresse                              address aften                                  evening alder                                  age alderdomssvakhet             weakness of old age aldri                                   never alle                                    all alltid                                  always almisse                              charity almisselem                        indigent, poor altergang                           communion amt                                    county amtmann                           chief county administrator andre                                 others, other, next anetavle                             pedigree chart anfall                                  seizure, attack anførte                                entered, mentioned ankomst                              arrival anmerkning                        remark, notice, note annen, annet                      second, another annen gang                        second time anno (Latin)                        year annonsere                          publish, announce antall                                  number, count april                                   April arbeider                             laborer arkiv                                   archive arv                                      inheritance arvelodd                             share of inheritance arving                                 heir astma                                 asthma at                                        that atten                                   eighteen attende                               eighteenth attest                                   certificate august                                 August av                                        of, at, by, from avdeling                              part, division avdød                                  deceased avgangen                            departed avgift                                   duty (monetary), fee avkom                                 offspring, issue avtale                                  agreement 

B

'''bakbygning                       back building (additional residence behind the main building) baker                                 baker bakke                                 hill bannlyse                            excommunicate baptist                                Baptist bar                                     carried bar barnet                          held child (at baptism font) bare                                   only barn                                   child barna                                 children barndom                            childhood barnebarn                          grandchild barnedåp                           child baptism barnefar                             child’s father barnløs                               childless barsel                                 birth barselfeber                         childbed fever barselseng                          birthing bed be                                       pray, request beboer                                occupant, resident bededag                             prayer day bedrive hor                         commit adultery befolkning                           population, people begge                                  both begivenhet                          event, occurrence begravelse                          funeral, burial begravet                              buried behandle                            handle, treat, manage bemerkning                        remark ben                                     leg, bone benekte                              deny benåde                               pardon beruset                               drunk besetning                           livestock, crew beskrivelse                         description beslektet                             related bestefar                              grandfather besteforeldre                      grandparents bestemor                            grandmother besvangre                          impregnate, get with child, make pregnant betale                                 pay betler                                  beggar bevilge                               grant bevis                                   proof bibliotek                             library bind                                    volume (book) biografi                               biography biskop                                 bishop bispedømme                       diocese bli                                       become blikkenslager                      tinsmith blind                                   blind blod                                    blood blodgang                            dysentery'''

blodskam                           incest blodsott                               abnormal loss of blood during illness bo                                        to live at bodde                                  lived bok                                      book bokhandler                          bookseller bokholder, bokfører             bookkeeper bokstav                                letter, character bolig                                    residence, house bonde                                  farmer bopel                                   residence, domicile borger                                 citizen borgermester                       mayor borgerskap                          citizenship bot                                       fine, penalty brann                                   fire brennevinsbrenner              distiller of spirits brev                                     letter (correspondence) bro                                       bridge bror                                      brother brordatter                             brother’s daughter brorsønn                               brother’s son brud                                      bride brudgom                               bridegroom bruk                                      farm, use brygger                                 brewer bryllup                                  wedding budeie                                  milkmaid buskap                                  livestock, crew by                                         town, city bygd                                     small country community, village bygdebok                             rural chronicles bygsel                                  lease byll                                       abscess byllepest                              plague (bubonic) bære                                    carry bøkker                                  cooper, barrel maker både                                     both, either båret                                     carried båt                                        boat, ship båtbygger                             shipbuilder båtsmann                              boatswain, bosun 

C

cirka                                     approximately communion                           Communion confirmerede                         confirmed copulerede                            marriage 

D

'''dag                                       day dagen før                               the previous day dagsarbeider                         day laborer dal                                         valley Danmark                                Denmark dannekvinde                          gentlewoman dannemand                           gentleman dansk                                     Danish dato                                       date (noun) datter                                     daughter datterdatter                            daughter’s daughter dattersønn                              daughter’s son datum (Latin)                          date dele                                        to divide, to share dem                                        them, they den                                         the, it, that denne                                     this der                                          there deres                                       their derfor                                      therefore desember                                December det                                           it, that, the difteri                                       diphtheria din                                            your disse                                         these diverse                                     various dokument                                 document domkirke                                  cathedral dommer                                    judge dragon                                      dragoon, light cavalryman dreng                                        boy drengebarn                               male child drepe                                        kill dronning                                   queen druknet                                     drowned dydig                                         virtuous dø                                              to die døbt(e)                                       christening død                                            dead, death døde                                          died, death dødfødt                                      stillborn dødsfall                                     death døgn                                          24-hour period of time døpt                                           baptized, christened døtre                                          daughters døv                                            deaf døvstum                                     deaf and dumb dåp                                            baptism dåpsattest                                  certificate of baptism dåpsdag                                     day of baptism '''

E

'''efter                                          after efterkommer                              descendant efterlatte                                    surviving, survivors efterlevende                              surviving eftermiddag                              afternoon efternavn                                  surname, last name egen                                         own egentlig                                    actual egteviede                                 marriage eie, eje                                     to own eiendom                                   property, real estate ekte                                          legitimate, to marry ektefelle                                   spouse ektemann                                 husband ektepar                                     married couple ekteskap                                   marriage ekteskapelig                             marital, conjugal ekteviet                                    married eldre                                        older eldst                                         oldest, eldest elev                                          student eller                                         or, or else elleve                                      eleven ellevte                                     eleventh elv                                           river, stream embete                                   public office embetsmann                          public official emigrant                                 emigrant emigrere                                 emigrate en, et                                      a, one enebarn                                  only child engelsk                                   English England                                  England enhver                                    each enke                                       widow enkemann                              widower enkestand                               widowed ennu                                       yet, still epilepsi                                   epilepsy er                                            is, are erhverv                                   livelihood erkjenne                                 acknowledge et                                            a, one etasje                                     floor, story etc. (Latin)                              et cetera, and so on etternavn                                surname, last evne                                       intelligence '''

F

'''fabrikk                                   factory faddere                                  christening witnesses, godparents fallesyke                                epilepsy falt                                         fall, be killed in war familie                                   family familie                                   historie lineage books far                                          father farfar                                      paternal grandfather farger                                     dyer, tanner farmor                                    paternal grandmother farsot                                      pestilence, plague fartøy                                      vessel, craft fattig                                       poor fattigvesnet                             welfare agency februar                                   February felles                                      common, joint fem                                         five femte                                      fifth femten                                    fifteen femtende                                fifteenth femti                                       fifty femtiende                               fiftieth fengsel                                   prison festeseddet                             rental contract festning                                  fortress fetter                                      cousin (male) Finnland                                Finland finsk                                       Finnish fire                                         four fisker                                      fisherman fjell                                        mountain fjerde                                     fourth fjorten                                    fourteen fjortende                                fourteenth flere                                       several, more flittig                                      diligent flytte                                      move foged, fogd                            bailiff, sheriff folio                                       page (double) folk                                        people folkemengde                         population folkeregister                          citizen register, national register folketelling                            census for                                          for, at, before, by foran                                      in front of forblødning                            bled to death foreldre                                  parents foreldreløs                             orphan forening                                 society forfedre                                 ancestors, forefathers forhenværende                      former, previous, preceding forhus                                    house in front (usually the main house on a farm) forkjølet                                 to have a cold forklaring                               explanation forlate                                    leave, forgive forlovelse                               engagement forlovere                                marriage witnesses formiddag                              between morning and afternoon formynder                              guardian fornavn                                  first name, given name forpakter                               manager of estate forrige                                   former forstand                                 intellect, mind forstoppelse                          constipation, obstruction forsørges                               supported fortelle                                  tell, relate fortid                                     past forvalter                                manager foster                                    fetus fosterbarn                             foster child fostre                                    foster, to rear fra                                         from fraflytte                                 leave, move away fraværende                          absent fredag                                  Friday fremmed                              foreign, foreigner fremtid                                 future fru                                        Mrs. fruentimmer                         unmarried mother, female person (derogatory) fruktsommelig                      pregnant frøken                                  Miss full                                       full, complete, drunk fullmektig                            head clerk, agent fylke                                    county fyr                                        lighthouse fæstebrev                            to acquire land føderåd                               support received after giving one’s estate to another føderådskone                      woman receiving support føderådsmann                     man receiving support fødested                              birthplace fødsel                                  birth fødselsattest                        birth certificate fødselsdag                           birthday født(e)                                  born (birth) følgende                              following, next føllaug                                 retired før                                        before første                                   first førti                                      forty førtiende                              fortieth får                                        sheep, receives '''

G

gammel                              old  gartner                                gardener garver                                 tanner gate                                    street gave                                   gift, endowment geistlig                               ecclesiastical geografisk leksikon            gazetteer gift                                      marriage, married, poison gikt                                     rheumatism gjeld                                   debt gjenlevende                       survivors gjennom                             through gjestgiver                           innkeeper gjet, gjeit                            goat gjeter                                  herdsman gjørtler                                brazier, brass smith god                                     good gods                                    estate godseier                              estate owner gratis                                   free grav                                    grave graver                                 gravedigger, sexton gravlund                             cemetery gravsted                              burial place gren                                    branch grenader                             infantryman grense                                 boundary, border greve                                  Count (nobility) grevinne                             Countess grunn                                  ground, reason gruve                                  mine, pit gruvearbeider                    miner grønn                                 green gudfar                                godfather gudmor                              godmother gull                                    gold gulsot                                 jaundice gulv                                   floor gutt                                    boy gå                                      go, walk gård                                   farm gårdbruker                         farmer gårdeier                             farm owner gårsdagens                        of yesterday 

H

   

Spelling
Spelling was not standardized when most early records were made. The following spelling variations are common:

Examples:

"gjørtler" spelled as "giørtler" "mann" spelled as "mand" "kvinne" spelled as "quinde"

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
This word list includes only words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a Norwegian-English dictionary. Several Norwegian-English dictionaries are available at the Family History Library. These are in the Scandinavian collection. Their call numbers begin with 439.82321. Family History Centers can obtain the following dictionaries on microfilm:

Scavenius, H. Glydendals Ordbøker; Norsk-Engelsk [Gyldendal’s Dictionaries; Norwegian-English]. Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1945. (FHL film 1,224,705, item 4).

cavenius, H. Glydendals Ordbøker; Engelsk-Norsk [Glydendal’s Dictionaries; English-Norwegian]. Oslo, Norway: Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 1945. (FHL film 1,224,705, item 3). Additional dictionaries are listed in the Subject section of the Family History Library Catalog under NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES and in the Locality section under NORWAY - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES.

KEY WORDS
In order to find and use specific types of Norwegian records, you will need to know some key words in Norwegian. This section lists key genealogical terms in English and the Norwegian words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Norwegian words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used in Norwegian records to indicate marriage.