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*If one spouse died, the other remarried, and children were born to the new pair, the couple usually named the first child of the same sex after the deceased spouse. If a child died, the next child of the same sex often got the first child’s name. | *If one spouse died, the other remarried, and children were born to the new pair, the couple usually named the first child of the same sex after the deceased spouse. If a child died, the next child of the same sex often got the first child’s name. | ||
These Scandinavian naming customs were notably constraining and, mixed with patronymics over many generations, resulted in many people in a given village having the same names. For example, one rural village (Birkerød) | These Scandinavian naming customs were notably constraining, leading to fewer and fewer available names and, mixed with patronymics over many generations, resulted in many people in a given village having the same names. For example, in one rural village (Birkerød) there were 7 men named Jørgen Larsen during the same time period. A further consequence was there were many couples with the same names as other couples throughout Denmark. | ||
The military found it especially problematic, which prompted the practice of assigning random surnames to soldiers, like 'Berg' (mountain), 'Bergstrom' (mountain stream), etc. to uniquely identify the men with the same names. Some people, or the clerics in their parish, started appending the occupation (Væver = Weaver; Skræder = tailor) or the name of the farm they lived on to their surnames. Westergaard meant West Farm, Ostergaard meant East Farm, and so forth. (These name problems existed in Sweden & Norway also.) | The military found it especially problematic, which prompted the practice of assigning random surnames to soldiers, like 'Berg' (mountain), 'Bergstrom' (mountain stream), etc. to uniquely identify the men with the same names. Some people, or the clerics in their parish, started appending the occupation (Væver = Weaver; Skræder = tailor) or the name of the farm they lived on to their surnames. Westergaard meant West Farm, Ostergaard meant East Farm, and so forth. (These name problems existed in Sweden & Norway also.) | ||
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===Additional Resources=== | ===Additional Resources=== | ||