Sweden Personal Names

Understanding surnames and given names can help you find and identify your ancestors in the records.

Surnames

Before record keeping began, most people had only one name, such as Johan. As the population increased, it became necessary to distinguish between individuals with the same name. The problem was usually solved by adding descriptive information. Johan became Johan the smith, Johan the son of Erik, Johan the short, or Johan from Borås. At first, such "surnames" applied only to one person and not to the whole family. After a few generations, these names were passed from father to children.

Surnames developed from four major sources:

• Patronymic, based on the father's name, such as Johan Nilsson (son of Nils).
• Nicknames, based on a person's characteristics, such as Pehr Fager (beautiful).
• Geographical, based on a person's place of birth or residence, such as Olof Grankulla.
• Occupational, based on the person's trade, such as Lars Smed (Smith).

Surnames were first used by nobility and wealthy land owners. Later the custom was followed by merchants and townspeople and eventually by the rural population.

Most Swedish surnames are patronymic. Patronymic surnames changed with each generation. For example, Lars Pettersson was the son of a man named 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 a sister would be known as Larsdotter (daughter of Lars). When people used patronymics, a woman did not change her name at marriage.

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 Bäck. Before the late 1800s, a military surname seldom became a family name. Later, when family names were more common and sometimes when people emigrated from Sweden, the military name became the family surname.

When a young man became an apprentice to learn a trade, he would choose an additional surname.

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

In 1901 a law required people to adopt permanent surnames to be passed onto successive generations.

100 Most Common Surnames in Sweden

Rank	Name	Rank	Name	Rank	Name
1	Johansson	35	Henriksson	69	Sandström
2	Andersson	36	Håkansson	70	Holmgren
3	Karlsson	37	Sjöberg	71	Sundberg
4	Nilsson	38	Forsberg	72	Ekström
5	Eriksson	39	Lindqvist	73	Åberg
6	Larsson	40	Danielsson	74	Hedlund
7	Olsson	41	Engström	75	Sjögren
8	Persson	42	Lundin	76	Månsson
9	Svensson	43	Fransson	77	Martinsson
10	Gustafsson	44	Eklund	78	Öberg
11	Pettersson	45	Lind	89	Jonasson
12	Jonsson	46	Johnsson	80	Andreasson
13	Jansson	47	Samuelsson	81	Abrahamsson
14	Hansson	48	Gunnarsson	82	Dahlberg
15	Bengtsson	49	Holm	83	Hellström
16	Jönsson	50	Bergman	84	Strömberg
17	Petersson	51	Nyström	85	Blomqvist
18	Carlsson	52	Holmberg	86	Norberg
19	Gustavsson	53	Lundqvist	87	Åkesson
20	Magnusson	54	Arvidsson	88	Blom
21	Lindberg	55	Mårtensson	89	Göransson
22	Olofsson	56	Isaksson	90	Sundström
23	Lindström	57	Nyberg	91	Åström
24	Axelsson	58	Söderberg	92	Söderström
25	Lindgren	59	Björk	93	Ivarsson
26	Jakobsson	60	Nordström	94	Löfgren
27	Lundberg	61	Lundström	95	Ek
28	Bergström	62	Eliasson	96	Bergqvist
29	Lundgren	63	Wallin	97	Lindholm
30	Berglund	64	Berggren	98	Lund
31	Berg	65	Björklund	99	Nyman
32	Fredriksson	66	Ström	100	Josefsson
33	Mattsson	67	Hermansson
34	Sandberg	68	Nordin

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, Peder, Pehr, Pär, Per, Petter
Andreas, Anders, Andres, Andors
Johannes, Johan, Jan, Jaen, Jean, Joen, Jon Jöns, Jonas
Paulus, Paul, Påfvel, Påfwel, Pål, Påhl, Povel

Some of the more common given names used in Sweden during the last four centuries are listed below:

MALE NAMES

Alf Algot Ambjörn Amund Anders Andreas Arne Arnvald Arvi Asmund Assar Astrad Axel Bengt Björn Björnvid Bo Bodel Bror Bryngel Börje Christer Carl Enevald Erik Ernst

Esbjörn Eskil Frenne Fridmund Germund Gudmund Gumme Gunnar Gunne Gustaf Göran Gösta Halvar Hans Harald Helge Henning Hemming Håkan Inge Ingemar Isak Ivar Jeppe Johan Jöns

Jörgen Jan Karl Klas Knut Lars Lennart Magnus Matts Matthias Måns Mårten Nicolaus Niklas Nils Olaus Ola Olof Oscar Otto Paul Per Peter Petrus Povel Pål

Påvel Pär Sibbe Sigmund Sjunne Sone Staffan Stefan Sten Sture Sune Svante Sven Svenning Sören Tomas Tore Torkil Torsten Trued Tue Tuve Truls Wollmar Åke Östen

FEMALE NAMES

Anna Bengta Birgitta Bodil Boel Brita Borta Cecilia Christina Cissela Dordi Dorotea Elena Elisabet Ella

Elna Elsa Gertrud Greta Gunnil Gunnela Hanna Helena Ingeborg Ingegerd Inger Ingrid Johanna Karin Karna

Katarina Kerstin Kristina Lisa Lisken Lotta Lotten Lovisa Maja Malena Margareta Margit Marit Marna Marta

Mathilda Metta Märeta Nilla Olu Olug Pernilla Petronella Rangela Sigrid Sissa Sissela Sofia Stina Troen

INTERCHANGEABLE FIRST NAMES

In Sweden, it is not uncommon to call a person by an affectionate form of the given name, for example, (William-Bill). This may be confusing in research, where for example someone may be called Kjerstin in the birth record, but later is called Stina in another record. It really is not much of a problem, once we have learned to recognize these names. Some of the more common names are listed below:

Males

Anders Hans Per
Andreas Hasse Peder
Johan Lars Pehr
Jaen Lasse Pelle
Jan Magnus Peter
Janne Måns Pelle
Jean Nils Petrus
Joen Nicolaus Petter
Johannes Niklas Päder
John Olof Pähr
Jon Ola Pär
Jonas OllePål
Jöns Oluf Povel, Pofwel, Paul

Females

Anna Elisabet Karin
Annicka Elisa Cajsa
Anika Lisa Kajsa
Catrina Lisbet Katrina
Cajsa Lisken Cajsa
Kajsa Louise Kajsa
Christina Lovisa Kristina
Stina Eljena Stina
Charlotta Elna Magdalena
Lotta Helena Lena
Lotten Elin Maja
Cherstin Ellen Margareta
Christa Lena Greta
Stina Johanna Maria
Hanna Maja

 

 

 

When baptized, children were usually given one or two given names. The name may be that of a parent or other relative.

Some good books on names are:

• Kjöllerström, P. A. (Per August). Svenska dopnamn och släktnamn (Swedish Given Names and Surnames). Stockholm, Sweden: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1913. (FHL films 1440226 item 14.)

• Otterbjörk, Roland. Svenska förnamn: krotfattat namnlexikon (Swedish Given Names: A Brief Dictionary of Names). Stockholm, Sweden: Esselte Studium, 1979. (FHL book 948.5 D4o.)

For Swedish Naming Practices click here

External Links

• http://www.genealogi.se/namneng.htm

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)