User:SvareJM/Sandbox/Sweden Names

Introduction
Considerable confusion exists among many people with Swedish ancestry regarding how names are used in Sweden and how they should be recorded. This document attempts to give background into the historical practices, legislation, and recommended best practices for recording Norwegian personal and place names.

Things To Know

 * During the 19th century people began adopting fixed surnames
 * The first law in Sweden concerning surnames was passed in 1901
 * Most of the population used patronymic surnames which are derived from the father's given name and a suffix to identify the child's gender, -son, -dotter
 * Surnames were frequently abbreviated in records
 * The suffix -dotter was frequently abbreviated as d., dr., dtr., etc.

Best Practices For Recording Names

 * Surnames which are abbreviated in the records should be recorded fully spelled out

Legislative Changes
The first law requiring people to adopt permanent surnames to be passed onto successive generations was in 1901.

Given Names
The earliest known Swedish names appear about 55 A. D. on some 2000 Runic stones scattered around the kingdom. Usually the given names were given to describe a quality or characteristic, or resemble an occurrence or occasion that was desired in the life of the born babe, such as Ragnvald, which means, “He who is mighty with power.”

At the turn of the first millennium of the Christian era, all of Sweden was Christianized, and a conscious effort was undertaken by the clergy to substitute the names of the Christian saints for the old Swedish names. Thus the apostolic names of Peter, Andrew, John, and Paul took on their present day form of:

Petrus, Peter, Pehr, Per Andreas , Anders  Johannes , Johan, Jön, Jon, Jean,  Paulus , Paul, Pål, Påhl

Naming Patterns
When baptized, children were usually given one name. Prominent or well-to-do families sometime gave their children two names or even three. The name may be that of a parent or other relative. A traditional way of naming children was as shown below, but it is important to know that this pattern was not always followed and was less common in some areas of Sweden.
 * The first son was named after the father's father.
 * The second son was named after the mother's father.
 * The third son was named after the father.
 * The fourth son was named after the fathers eldest brother.
 * The first daughter was named after the mother's mother.
 * The second daughter was named after the father's mother.
 * The third daughter was named after the mother.
 * The fourth daughter was named after the mothers eldest sister.

Surnames
It is clear from the oldest known records that names have been used to identify individuals throughout history. Surnames, as they are understood by many English-speaking cultures today, first began to be used before the end of the first millennium, C.E. Surnames were first introduced in Europe by the Normans, who were French-speaking descendants of Viking settlers. This may indicate that people living in Scandinavia were among the earliest adopters of some type of surname.

Surnames developed from four major sources:
 * Patronymic, based on the father's name, such as Johan Nilsson (son of Nils)
 * Nature, based on one or two words taken from nature, or a word from nature with another ending
 * Nicknames, based on a person's characteristics, such as Pehr Fager (the fair)
 * Geographical, based on a person's place of birth or residence, such as Olof Grankulla. These were less common in Sweden.

Surnames were first used by nobility and wealthy land owners. Later the custom was adopted by the clergy, merchants, citizens and eventually by the rural population.

Patronymics


The predominant type of surname in Sweden is patronymic. These surames are based on the father's given name and changed with each generation. For example, Lars Pettersson was the son of Petter. If Lars had a son named Hans, the son would be known as Hans Larsson (son of Lars). His brothers would be called Larsson, while any sisters would be known as Larsdotter (daughter of Lars).

Abbreviations
When recording surnames, it is important to remember that patronymics were frequently abbreviated in the records. The abbreviations dr., dtr., d., are all substitutes for dotter. Likewise, male patronymics are frequently shortened to s. In a parish where most of the population has a surname ending with dotter or son, recording the name in full would be needlessly redundant.

Nature Names
Surnames derived from nature followed the following patterns:
 * Two "nature words", for example: Lindgren (linden + branch), Berggren (hill + branch), Bladberg (leaf + hill), Sjöblad (lake + leaf), etc.
 * One "nature word" plus a greek/latin ending like -ander/-andra, -ius/-ia, -us/-a, -er, -en, -in, -ell, for example: Lindén, Linder, Lindell, Bergander, Bergius, etc.

Soldier Names
When a young man went into the military he was given a new surname. This name could be based on his characteristics, such as Stark (strong) or Modig (brave), or the place where he was stationed. If the place was called Lillebäck, he may have been called Lillebäck or Bäck. Before the late 1800s, a military surname seldom became a family name. The son of a soldier, Petter Lillebäck, would likely have been known as Pettersson unless he became a soldier and took his father's post. Soldiers were alloted a house and piece of land which came with their post. In some cases a soldier would take the soldier-name of the the soldier who had previously held his post. Later, when family names were more common and sometimes when people emigrated from Sweden, the military name became the family surname.

When a man entered into military service in Sweden, it was often the case that he would take on a new surname. This was necessary to avoid the confusion of having multiple men serving together by the exact same name. For example, how would a man named Olof Olofsson know when his name was called when there are five others in the company by the same name?

"Most often it was the company commander who "christened" the soldiers and it was his preference that ruled in the name selection. Some names were passed on for generations while other company commanders came up with new names."

Often these soldier names were reflective of military life such as: Modig (courageous), Tapper (brave), Frimodig (fearless, frank), and Stark (strong). Sometimes, references were made to weaponry such as: Svärd (sword), Skjöld (shield), Spjut (spear), and Lans (lance) or military equipment such as: the soldier named Krut, (gunpowder), and Lod (cannonball) while the sailor could get a name as Ankare (anchor).

In other cases you will find the soldier name is associated to the name of the soldier farm. Many names were formed from place names in the area, such as a soldier from the parish Tillberga, could easily get the name Tillberg or the soldier from Sundby named Sundin.

Some soldier names were taken from nature such as: such as Ek (oak), Gren (branch) or Granqvist (spruce branch) and others from animal life such as: Björn (bear), Lo (lynx), or Järv (wolverine).

"It is easy to believe that soldier names deal with relationship, where a son succeeds his father in the same service or rot”. But soldier names are never proof of relationship. The name belonged to the rote and was often given to the next soldier regardless of whether or not he was related to the previous soldier. On the other hand, however, it was not uncommon that soldier dynasties were built where the son followed the father for several generations. But the name itself is no indication of such a relationship because it requires further verification."

The soldier would use the name of the soldier farm as his last name for the duration of his service at that farm. When he was discharged, he would move off the soldier farm. In many cases they kept using the soldier name. Then when a new recruit took over the soldier farm, the cycle would begin again.

Children of a soldier may or may not have taken their father’s military surname. For example, the children of a soldier named Anders Ljungström may have used either the Ljungström surname or chosen instead to be known as Andersson or Andersdotter. Many chose to use their patronymic surname, based upon their father’s given name instead. It was more common for children to use the patronymic surname rather than the military surname before the mid 1800s. Also about this time it became more common for the soldiers to keep their soldier name when they were discharged from the military, and children adopted their father’s soldier name.

Keep the following tips in mind:
 * When a soldier was discharged, the new soldier of the ward (rote) could be assigned the same soldier’s name as his predecessor.
 * When a soldier was discharged, he often went back to his patronymic name.
 * Having the same soldier surname is not proof of relationship.
 * It was common that the children of a soldier kept their patronymic name.

Online Resources

 * Hans H&#246;gman, Swedish naming practices in earlier times, surnames