Sweden Personal Names: Difference between revisions

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*During the 19th century people began adopting fixed surnames

*The first law in Sweden concerning surnames was passed in 1901

*Farm names (''gårdsnamn'') are common in [[Kopparberg County, Sweden Genealogy|Dalarna (Kopparberg County)]], and are generally written before the person's given name

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

*Farm names (''gårdsnamn'') indicate residence and are not part of a person's name

[[Swedish Genealogical Word List|Swedish]] is a North Germanic language closely related to Danish, Icelandic and Norwegian. In 1786 the Swedish Academy (''Svenska Academien'') commissioned Carl Gustaf Leopold to create rules for modern Swedish with uniform spelling. This was published in 1801 as ''Afhandling om Svenska stafsättet''.  Additional changes were recommended in 1869 during the ''Rättstavningsmötet'' (Spelling Meeting), as well as in 1886 and 1899. 1874 saw the publication of ''Ordlista öfver Svenska Språket'' (Dictionary of the Swedish Language) which incorporated the proposed reforms. The ''Stavningsreform'' (Spelling reform) of 1906 made additional changes to the orthography.

A summary of the changes include:

*"E" to "Ä" in some words such as ''järn'' (iron)

*"W" replaced by "V"

A more complete list can be found at [[Sweden_Languages#Spelling|Sweden Languages - Spelling]]. For documentary examples of Swedish handwriting see [[Sweden Handwriting]]. To help English language speakers Linköping University has produced an [http://www.lysator.liu.se/language/Languages/Swedish/Grammar.html introduction to Swedish grammar].

On 5 December 1901 Sweden passed the first law regulating personal names. This law required all persons who do not already have a fixed surname to adopt the masculine form of their father's surname as their own. Several changes to this law have been made since then, the latest being [https://riksdagen.se/sv/dokument-lagar/dokument/svensk-forfattningssamling/lag-20161013-om-personnamn_sfs-2016-1013 ''Lag (2016:1013) om personnamn''] which went into effect 1 July 2017 and placed responsibility for registering changes of names under the Tax Authority (''Skatteverket''). The 1901 law did not address the question of surnames for married or divorced women, or adopted children. Rules for these cases were pending before the courts and were determined separately.<ref>[https://riksarkivet.se/Sve/Arkivhistorier/dokbilder/2003/surnames.pdf ''Om Namnbyten och Namnlagar i Sverige''] (PDF)</ref>

The number of unique given names in Sweden is generally rather small. However, variations abound and some names are more common than others in different regions. Culturally, a person has only one given name (or forename), but it may consist of multiple names, such as ''Carl Oscar''. In this case most English speakers would consider this to be two given names, but in Sweden it would be viewed as the person’s entire, single given name (forename). Given names consisting of multiple names became more common in the late 1800s.

These name variants above are indicative of an important principle about names. In Sweden, it is not uncommon to call a person by an affectionate form of the given name. William, for example, in English-speaking countries is often know as Bill. This can be confusing in research, where for example someone may be called Kjerstin in the birth record, but later is called Stina in another record. Most names also have variant spellings. It really is not much of a problem, once you have learned to recognize these names. Some of the more common names and variants are listed below:  

Anna, Anika, Annicka, Aina, Ann, Anne, Anette, Annie<br>Britta, Birgit, Birgitta, Brigitta, Brit, Brita<br>Catharina, Catrina, Katrina, Trina, Cajsa, Kajsa, Cari, Carin, Kari, Karin, Karna, Katarina, Katinka, Katrin <br>Cecelia, Ceselia, Cidza, Cissa, Citza, Sesla, Sessa, Siccla, Sidsa Sidse, Sidsela, Sidtse Sidtze, Sidtzela, Sissa, Sitza, Zidtza, Zissa, Zissela, Zitze&nbsp;<br>Charlotta, Lotta, Lotten<br>Christina, Kristina, Cherstin, Christin, Christine, Kerstin, Kirsti, Kjerstin, Kjersti, Kristin, Kristine, Christa, Stina, <br>Elisabetha, Elisabet, Elisa, Elise, Elsa, Else, Lisbet, Lisa, Lisken, Betty, <br>Johanna, Hanna<br>Helena, Elena, Ellen, Eljena, Elin, Lena<br>Karin see Catharina above <br>Louisa, Lovisa<br>Magdalena, Lena&nbsp;<br>Maria, Maja, Maj, Mariana, Marianne, Marie, Marika, Marja, Mary, Mia, Majken<br>Margareta, Margreta, Margit, Greta, Mareta, Maggie, Maret,  

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.  

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*The fourth daughter was named after the mothers eldest sister.

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Sometimes two or more children within a family were given the same name. In some cases it was done because an older child died and the next child of the same gender was given the name. However, two or more children by the same given name could also have lived to adulthood. Do not presume that the first child with that same given name died unless the actual death record is found.

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

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.

[[File:Sweden Patronymic Surnames.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Illustration of the derivation of Swedish patronymic surnames]]

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).

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, Melander, etc.

When a young man went into the military he was given 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?

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Many professionals elected to assume a new surname marking a milestone in their life or suiting their occupation. When a young man became an apprentice to learn a trade, he would choose an additional surname, generally after reaching journeyman status. Some student adopted an new surname when attending university, and then may change it again at graduation when they begin their professional career.  

The clergy and other learned men often "Latinized" their names, Eric Karlsson became Ericus Caroli.

In the province of Dalarna people were frequently recorded with a farm name (''g&#229;rdsnamn'') which were always written before their given name. An example of this would be ''Knis Anders Ersson'', who may also be recorded as ''Knis Anders''. These farm names should not be recorded as part of the person's name but should be included as part of the locality. These names usually do not appear in the church record until 1800.<ref>Elisabeth Thorsell. [http://www.etgenealogy.se/farmname.htm ''The Farm Names of Dalarna'']. Accessed 8 June 2020.</ref> In Gotland if a person was a farm hand the name of the farm names was written before the person's name, and after if the person was the owner of the farm.<ref>Kjöllerström, Per August, ''[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/342294 Svensk Namnbok : Dopnamn, Ättenamn, Ortnamn]'', p. 125.</ref>

When recording surnames, it is important to remember that patronymics were frequently abbreviated in the records. The abbreviations '''d.''', '''dr.''', '''dtr.''', are all substitutes for ''dotter''. Likewise, male patronymics are frequently shortened to '''s''' or '''ss'''. In a parish where most of the population has a surname ending with ''-dotter'' or ''-sson'', 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.

A study of male births in a parish in Norrbotten during the 1750s revealed that over half the males born had one of four given names: Anders (24%), Lars (12%), Jon (8%) and Olaf/Olav (8%). Among the female births during the same period five names were used move than half the time: Karin/Karen (18%), Margaret (14%), Kerstin/Christina (20%), Gunilla (7%), and Ingrid (7%). While this is a specific to a single parish, it is representative of name frequencies across the entire country.

It is not unusual for people to use different surnames after their emigration. For example, Anders Peter Ersson (Ericsson) married Christina (Stina) Catharina Ersdotter in 1856. In 1860 Anders Peter Ersson joined the navy and was given the sailor name Holmgren. When their son, Anders Gustaf Andersson, moved to the United States in 1911 he went by the name Anders Gustaf Holmgren.

*Hans H&#246;gman, [http://www.hhogman.se/naming-practice-sweden.htm Swedish naming practices in earlier times, surnames]

*Institutet för språk och folkminnen, [https://www.isof.se/om-oss/publikationer/namn/namnpublikationer.html Namnpublikationer]

*FamilySearch Learning Center: [https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/lessons/swedish-naming-customs Swedish Naming Customs]

[[Category:Sweden Language and Handwriting]]  

[[Category:Language and Handwriting]]

  [[Category:Personal Names]]