NORWEGIAN GENEALOGY NAMES EARLY NAMING f Vikings believed

NORWEGIAN GENEALOGY: NAMES

EARLY NAMING f. Vikings believed a child would achieve qualities and protection from what they were named after, e. g. animals or weapons. f. After Christianity took hold, saints and biblical names were used. f. Patronymics became the rule in several areas of the world, including Scandinavia.

NAMING TRADITIONS Norwegian tradition for naming children in the past followed strict practices: • The oldest son (daughter) was named after the paternal grandfather (grandmother) • The second oldest son (daughter) was named after the maternal grandfather (grandmother). • Next children were named after the great grandparents.

NAMING EXCEPTIONS • If the widow/widower remarried, they named their child after a deceased spouse. • If the parent died before the child was baptized, the child was named for that parent. • If the child died, the next child would get that child’s name. • Other rules exist for unique settings.

PATRONYMICS • Educated, upper class Norwegians (like clergy, military, and high ranking civil servants) and city dwellers used hereditary surnames (same last name passed down from generation to generation). • Until around 1900, rural Norwegians did not have surnames, but instead use the naming convention of patronymics.

PATRONYMICS • PATRONYM is Latin for ‘father + name’ • Rural Norwegians had a first name, sometimes a middle name, and a patronym. • Because there could be several persons in an area with this same name, (e. g. there may be more than one Anderson), farm names were added.

PATRONYMICS • The patronym and farm name were not used as surnames, but as identifiers and addresses, and were not hereditary names. Example: Daniel Rasmus Jonson Føllesdal -Daniel (first name) -Rasmus (middle name) -he was the son of Jon -he lives on the Føllesdal farm

PATRONYMICS • Schematic of an example of patronymic naming convention

PATRONYMICS The farm name was added for the farm where they currently resided. It could change if the residence changes! • A male child was born on the Hanebrekke farm, and was known as: Daniel Rasmus Jonson Hanebrekke • After moving to another farm, Espeland, in adulthood, he was known as: Daniel Rasmus Jonson Espeland

PATRONYMICS • Example of a family and their patronymic naming convention: -Anders Olafsen and his wife Mette Svensdatter have two children: Jon Andersen and Mari Andersdatter - They live on a farm named Skansen

PATRONYMICS – Father is Anders Olafsen • he is Anders, son of Olaf – His son is Jon Andersen • He is Jon, son of Anders – His daughter is Mari Andersdatter • She is Mari, daughter of Anders – His wife is Mette Svensdatter • She is daughter of Sven • Notice she does not take her husband’s name Olafsen

PATRONYMICS Remember! If there are several Jon Andersens in the village, the son may also take on the farm name: e. g. Jon Andersen Skansen

PATRONYMICS • Note the endings added to their names: • Here is a little history of how these endings have changed, depending on the ruling country! COUNTRY SON DAUGHTER DENMARK………………… -SEN -DATTER SWEDEN…………………. . -SON -DOTTER NORWAY (before 1814: Danish rule)……. . -SEN -DATTER NORWAY (1814 -1905: Swedish rule)……. . -SON -DOTTER NORWAY (after 1905: Independence)……. . -SØN -DOTTER

PATRONYMICS • Sometimes you will see double ‘s’ in the last name: – Larsson (son of Lars) – Nilsson (son of Nils) § This double ‘s’ is often dropped -Larson or Nilson Be aware that both spellings may be seen in genealogy records for the same person!

MATRONYMS • Matronyms were used exceptionally if the child was born out of wedlock or if the mother was much more high-born or well known than the father. Example: Sweyn Estridsson This is Sweyn, son of Estrid ( a woman!)

FIXED SURNAMES Norway gradually adopted fixed surnames from the mid-1800’s until they were required by law in 1923, citing the rising population and the need to avoid the confusion of new last names in every generation.

FIXED SURNAMES Choosing a fixed name followed four different routes: • Patronymic name • Place name • Occupation name • Characteristic name

FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES We’ve already discussed Patronymic naming. PLACE NAMING: - Farms were often divided into sections and given to sons at adulthood or inheritance. - The divided farms may take on different names.

FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES EXAMPLE: The Skyrud farm was divided into divisions given unique names: – Skyrudsteppen (plains) – Skyrudsmoen (meadow) – Skyrudshaugen (hill) – Øver-skyrud (upper) – Nordre-skyrud (northern)

FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES So while the family may choose the surname Skyrud, another member may choose Haugen or Moen, or even the village name.

FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES OCCUPATION NAMING: This was less common for use as fixed family names. e. g. Lars Hansen Snekkeren -This is Lars, son of Hans. -He is a carpenter (snekkeren). Other occupations became family names: Smed (blacksmith) Møller (miller)

FAMILY ‘FIXED’ NAMES CHARACTERISTIC NAMING: This was the least common naming convention. This was often common among royalty, those with titles and military victories, or for persons who were foreign born. EXAMPLES: -Svarte (black) -Rask (fast) -Brun (brown)

SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES 1. Most immigrants were illiterate and may not have known how to write or spell their names. (Public education was established in 1860 in Norway). 2. A name could be spelled several different ways: Olafsen, Ulafsen, Olavsen, Olesen, Olasen are all derived from the same name root.

SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES 3. A person may have several names during their lifetime, having names for each place they lived. 4. When emigrating, simplicity was the key in naming, so they could easily assimilate; names were simplified.

SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES • It is pretty common for the first American generation from Norwegian immigrants to select a permanent family name different from that chosen by their parents. • It’s a myth that Ellis Island or other immigration agents arbitrarily changed surnames.

SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES • Census takers wrote the names down as they heard them. Since they likely were not Scandinavian, they would spell the name on the census record as they thought it sounded. – e. g. Anders Olafsen became Andrew Olson on the census form. – e. g. Mette Evensdatter became Martha Evanston on the census form.

SPELLING AND OTHER NOTES – Some common examples of ‘Americanized’ Norwegian names: • Øystein became Austin • Mari became Marie • Kari became Carrie • Jens became James • Johannes became John

Norwegian Language & Alphabet • Norway has two written standards: – Bokmål -means ‘book language’ and is based on the Danish-influence on the language. – Nynorsk-means ‘new Norwegian’, but is based on old dialects.

Norwegian Language & Alphabet • Norwegian has three more letters than the English language: æ / Æ , ø / Ø , and å / Å • These may appear in older documents as follows: ä / Ä , ö / Ö , and aa /Aa – Do not substitute these letters in words, as they may change the meaning of the word!

NOTES: ICELAND Patronymics and matronymics are still used as last names and is, in fact, compulsory by law (with a handful of exceptions) -e. g. the father's name, plus the word son for sons or dóttir for daughters. Example: Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is read in English as "Jóhanna, daughter of Sigurð[ur]".

NOTES: FINLAND The use of patronymics was a result of relatively recent Swedish influence and remained uncommon outside official documents. - Only in the 19 th century did the use of patronymics gain any sort of popularity among the Finnish-speaking lower classes. - Family surnames became obligatory in Finland by law in 1920.

NOTES: SWEDEN The practice of children keeping their father's and wives keeping their husband's patronymic as a surname occurred in the 1700 s but was first prevalent in the late 1800 s, still present yet uncommon in the 1900 s and finally abolished in 1966. -In 1982 the right to use patronyms (and matronyms) was partially restored, and from 1 July 2017 parents in Sweden are free to give their children patronyms/matronyms at birth instead of inherited family names.

NOTES: DENMARK The government outlawed the practice in 1856 and eased the regulations in 1904 to deal with the limited number of patronymics.

Sons of Norway Website • For members, the Sons of Norway website has a cultural program for those interested in Norwegian genealogy. • You can earn pins for your genealogical accomplishments through this Cultural Skills program. Go to https: //www. sofn. com/

Sons of Norway Website

Sons of Norway Website • • Log in Click on Member Resources (upper right) Scroll down and click on the Genealogy link There is a downloadable file for the Cultural Skills program, which has many wonderful descriptions of the history of Norway, genealogic resources, and forms to use to apply for the pins after completion of the courses. • There also other resource links in blue at the bottom of this page.

Norwegian Genealogy: links • The Norwegian National Archives https: //www. digitalarkivet. no/en/ • Sons of Norway https: //www. sofn. com/

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