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Denmark Personal Names: Difference between revisions
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After about 1850, it became the custom in the cities to take permanent surnames. By 1880 most of Denmark began doing so. By 1903, when the law regarding easing restrictions on changing names was passed, most people had already adopted the practice of using a permanent family name to be passed to successive generations. | After about 1850, it became the custom in the cities to take permanent surnames. By 1880 most of Denmark began doing so. By 1903, when the law regarding easing restrictions on changing names was passed, most people had already adopted the practice of using a permanent family name to be passed to successive generations. | ||
== 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 ''datter''. Likewise, male patronymics are frequently shortened to '''s'''. In a parish where most of the population has a surname ending with ''datter'' or ''sen'', recording the name in full would be needlessly redundant. | 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 ''datter''. Likewise, male patronymics are frequently shortened to '''s'''. In a parish where most of the population has a surname ending with ''datter'' or ''sen'', recording the name in full would be needlessly redundant. | ||
Abbreviations in the records are not limited to surnames. Some given names are frequently abbreviated as well. Perhaps the most commonly encountered abbreviation is in names containing the word ''Christ'', where it is written as ''X'', it being a modern siglum of the Greek ''Χρ'', representing the first two letters in the Greek spelling of Christ. | |||
=== Name Frequency === | === Name Frequency === | ||
The customs described above constrained the number of unique names in a family, leading to fewer and fewer names in a parish, and, mixed with patronymics over many generations, resulted in many people in a given village having the same names. For example, in the 1860 census for the parish of Birkerød there were 83 men with the given name Jørgen, 11 of which were named Jørgen Jensen. The following table shows the distribution of surnames for 49 men with the given name Jørgen in the parish. | The customs described above constrained the number of unique names in a family, leading to fewer and fewer names in a parish, and, mixed with patronymics over many generations, resulted in many people in a given village having the same names. For example, in the 1860 census for the parish of Birkerød there were 83 men with the given name Jørgen, 11 of which were named Jørgen Jensen. The following table shows the distribution of surnames for 49 men with the given name Jørgen in the parish. | ||